Steel slumps but overall materials prices increase

Slumping steel prices have contributed to overall low levels of materials prices at the start of the year, with fabricated structural steel prices for March reaching its lowest index level on record at 81.9.

But both bricks and concrete showed signs of increasing, with ready-mixed concrete still well ahead of prices reported last year.

In February, overall materials prices hit their lowest level since March 2011, but the latest data suggests that prices are beginning to show signs of increasing again.

Data for March points to BIS’ price index reaching 107.0 – the highest level since November last year.

However, this is still well below the highs of 111.5 reported in March 2014, and is also well shy of last year’s average level of 108.9.