Rising crude-oil and fuel costs will take a toll on highway projects this spring, says Anirban Basu, chief economist at Arlington, Va.-based Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), and the organization says paving will not be the only jobs where contractors will feel the pain.
ENR reported earlier this month that its 20-city average price for PG-58 paving asphalt increased 0.9% in March. That number, the magazine said, was 7.2% above the mark from a year earlier. It also noted that the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ producer price index for asphalt paving issued last August was up 8.1% for the 12-month period.
Overall, Associated General Contractors said the cost of construction materials accelerated dramatically in February after moderating for several months.
ABC cited Labor Department data that said prices for construction materials and supplies rose 0.9% in February after an increase of 0.4% in January Materials prices were up 4.4% compared with February 2011. Nonresidential construction materials prices rose by 0.8% last month and were up 4.6% from the same time last year.
“Prices for a wide range of construction inputs rose sharply in February, threatening to put contractors out of business and leave public projects underfunded unless materials can be ordered before prices jump further,” said Ken Simonson, AGC’s chief economist.
