ABOUT THE DEVELOPMENT OF MATERIAL PRICES
Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the rise in prices of construction materials has been very significant, and availability, especially in the early stages, was very problematic. What is the situation now, almost six months later?
Especially in metal products, there were significant availability issues at the beginning of the war, leading to a considerable price increase. The price peak for reinforcement steel was reached in April-May, after which prices have gradually decreased closer to pre-war levels. Discussions with reinforcement workers revealed a belief that price levels will stabilize here for a while, supported by the stable price of scrap steel. However, the situation may change depending on how successfully the worsening energy crisis can be resolved.
In steel structures, the situation is quite similar; prices peaked in April and have been steadily declining since May-June.
In general, construction costs have risen since the beginning of the year. With Finland's construction cost index being 104.1 at the beginning of February, it had already reached 108.5 by July.
Prices for wood products have also risen in some cases more, in others less. Since April-May, the price of some products has increased, in some cases the price increase has leveled off, and in some cases, the price has even decreased. However, significant declines have been observed in U.S. lumber futures after the sharp rise in late February-March. The drop from early March to today has been nearly 60%. It will be interesting to see how and on what timeframe this significant drop will reflect on prices in Finland.
