Flat Glass Prices Increase While Construction Materials Flat-Line, Reports Bureau of Labor Statistics
July 13, 2012

by Erica Terrini, eterrini@glass.com

Flat glass prices increased by 0.1 percent in June following a flat line in May that showed no change, according to the latest Producer Price Index (PPI) report released by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Bureau of Labor Statistics. Overall, the price of flat glass increased by 1.4 percent from June 2011 to June 2012. Construction material prices in general experienced no change last month after a 0.1 percent increase in May, though from June 2011 to June 2012 material prices increased by a total of 2.2 percent.

According to the PPI report, the prices of finished goods increased by 0.1 percent in June in light of two declines-May prices showed a 1.0 percent drop and April featured a 0.2 percent decrease in prices.

"At the earlier stages of processing, prices received by manufacturers of intermediate goods decreased 0.5 percent in June and the crude goods index fell 3.6 percent. On an unadjusted basis, prices for finished goods advanced 0.7 percent for the 12 months ended in June, the same rate as in May," according to the report.

Additionally, import and export prices for glass and glassware have dipped from May to June with import rates falling by 0.5 percent and export rates by 0.1 percent but construction materials have shown import rates increasing by 1.2 percent and export rates by 0.2 percent, according to the U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes report.

According to DOL's May import and export price report, the drop in import and export prices for glass and glassware comes after an import increase of 1 percent from April to May while export rates showed no percent change. Import prices from June 2011 to 2012 for glass and glassware have increased overall by 3.3 percent and export prices have decreased by 1 percent.

As for construction materials, import prices increased from April to May by 1.6 percent and export prices decreased by 0.3 percent. From June 2011 to June 2012, prices have risen overall with import rates increasing by 7.3 percent and export rates by 1.1 percent, according to the report.

Glass and glassware products include float glass, safety glass, lab glass and a range of other glass items, according to information from the International Price Program office in Washington, D.C. Selected building materials include mainly construction glass materials, such as plate and sheet glass, in addition to wood products, according to an International Price Program official.

For all commodities, import prices fell 2.7 percent in June after a 1.2 percent decline in May, according to the DOL report. Decreased prices for fuel and nonfuel import sectors factored into the overall decline. Additionally, export prices dipped by 1.7 percent in June, following a 0.4 percent drop in May. From June 2011-12, prices have lowered with import rates decreasing by 2.6 percent and export prices by 2.1 percent.

The decrease in June was the largest monthly drop aside from a 4.6 percent decline in December 2008, according to the report.

The price index for U.S. imports decreased 2.6 percent over the past 12 months, the largest year-over-year decline since the October 2008-09 period. In contrast, import prices rose 13.6 percent for the year ended June 2011.

The most recent report from May 2011 to 2012 saw an increase of 1.4 percent for flat glass prices and a 2.7 increase for construction material prices. Glass and glassware import prices rose by 3.7 percent from May 2011-12 and export prices decreased by 0.9 percent.