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Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Latest Producer Price Index report offers little relief
This story was originally published on Construction Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Construction Dive newsletter. Dive Brief: Construction input prices ticked up 0.4% in July, the same increase for nonresidential inputs, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Producer Price Index data. Input prices now sit 2.2% higher overall and 2.6% higher for nonresidential construction compared to a year ago, according to the report. Copper wire and cable, for example, surged 4.9% in July and 12.2% year over year. That price escalation, fueled by trade policy, could compress contractor margins in the months ahead, even as builders still hold a relatively upbeat level of confidence, said Anirban Basu, ABC chief economist. Dive Insight: Rising tariff levels pushed nonresidential construction input prices higher for a third consecutive month, according to the Associated General Contractors of America. Duties on aluminum and steel, along with a more recent tariff on raw copper, have prompted suppliers to raise prices. Aluminum mill shapes jumped 7.4% for the month and 13.7% from a year ago. Meanwhile, copper and brass mill shapes increased 5.7% for the month and 6.9% year over year. Steel mill products slipped 0.5% in July, though they still sit 8.8% higher compared to July 2024, according to AGC. 'Steep tariff increases earlier this year… drove the producer price index for construction inputs higher,' said Ken Simonson, AGC chief economist. 'Even though contractors do not generally import materials directly, it is clear that domestic producers are raising prices in line with the protection tariffs are providing them.' That's making contractors feel the squeeze at a time when higher interest rates and market uncertainty have cooled demand for some private sector work. Nonresidential construction spending decreased again in June, the most recent month for data, for the sixth time over the past seven months. But July's Producer Price Index may have a more tempered impact, said Paul Giorgio, chief operating officer at Los Angeles-based Eldridge Acre Partners, which recently spun off from AECOM Capital as a separate investment real estate firm. 'Although the PPI rose 0.9% which was higher than 0.2% expectations, the impacts to the consumer and owners were not impactful as the Consumer Price Index only had an insignificant 0.2% increase and only 2.7% increase year-over-year,' Giorgio told Construction Dive. 'These adjustments are in line with normal escalation and not material.' Nevertheless, the cost of key inputs, such as aluminum, steel and copper, continues to rise faster than anticipated, said Michael O'Reilly, vice president at Rider Levett Bucknall, a New York City-based construction consultancy firm. That's causing the construction industry to remain cautious. 'While some relief may come from potential interest rate cuts later this year, much of the industry's optimism hinges on trade policy stabilization," O'Reilly told Construction Dive. 'Without meaningful changes to tariff structures or supply chain conditions, the construction sector may continue to face headwinds through the remainder of 2025.' ABC's Basu cautioned broader inflationary pressures may complicate the Federal Reserve's decision on interest rates in September. 'With prices for final demand goods and services rising at the fastest pace since March 2022, the Federal Reserve will have to consider the prospect of resurgent inflation when deciding whether or not to cut rates at its September meeting,' said Basu. 'The construction industry is in desperate need of lower borrowing costs, and higher rates for longer would continue to weigh on construction spending.' Recommended Reading Construction costs rise as tariff clock ticks
South China Morning Post
07-08-2025
- South China Morning Post
Hunt for Hong Kong copper thieves after lightning rod wire stolen from MTR station
Hong Kong police are investigating the theft of copper wire worth about HK$100,000 (US$12,820) from a rooftop lightning rod at Po Lam MTR station in Tseung Kwan O. Officers were dispatched to the station on Mau Yip Road after receiving a report at 3.46pm on Thursday from an employee with rail operator the MTR Corporation that copper wire from a lightning rod was missing. After a preliminary investigation, police said they believed that wire valued at about HK$100,000 was stolen. The case has been classified as theft and is being handled by the police force's Tseung Kwan O district criminal investigation unit. No arrests have been made. Copper wire in a lightning rod system acts as a conductor. The wire creates a low-resistance path, allowing the electrical charge from a lightning strike to travel safely to the ground. This process dissipates the energy and prevents damage to the structure. The Post has contacted the MTR Corp for comment.
CTV News
05-08-2025
- CTV News
Thorhild residents without service weeks after cell tower vandalized
About 150 people in Thorhild County north of Edmonton are still dealing with little to no cell service nearly two months after a cell tower in the area was vandalized. RCMP say vandals knocked the tower down in mid-June, stripping it of copper wire. Owners of nearby Erdmann's Gardens and Greenhouses have been unable to make calls to customers on their cell phones for more than a month. Telus said it's adjusting other towers nearby to provide the area with as much coverage as possible until the replacement tower is installed sometime in September. 'I think it should be done faster,' business owner Wendy Erdmann told CTV News Edmonton. 'A lot of people out here depend on their cell phones.' While it is a Telus tower, other carriers use it to serve their customers too. The Erdmann's are with Bell, Police estimate the damage to the tower is $800,000.
CTV News
09-07-2025
- CTV News
4 charged in $100K hydro copper theft in northern Ont.
Four northern Ontario men face theft charges after allegedly cutting down 33 hydro poles and stealing copper wire near Cobalt in May. Ontario Provincial Police say the wire was worth $100,000.
CTV News
08-07-2025
- CTV News
Four men charged with $100K copper wire theft in northern Ont.
Police in northern Ontario are investigating after thieves cut down 33 hydro poles by the Hound Chute Generating Station near Cobalt earlier this month. Four people have been charged in a case where 33 hydro poles were chopped down and stripped of $100,000 worth of copper wire. The incident took place between May 1 and May 7 in a remote area on Silverfields Road in Coleman Township. 'The theft occurred in a remote area along the road connecting the town of Cobalt and the Hound Chute Hydro Generating Station,' the Ontario Provincial Police said in a news release Tuesday. Hound Chute Hydro Generating Station The theft occurred in a remote area along the road connecting the town of Cobalt and the Hound Chute Hydro Generating Station. (File) An investigation by the Temiskaming OPP crime unit, directed by the regional crime unit with help from the Forensic Identification Services, the north east emergency response Team and north east regional intelligence analyst led to the arrests. Charged are a 39-year-old from Hudson Township, a 42-year-old from Thornloe, a 34-yerar-old from Temiskaming Shores and a 51-year-old from Casey Township. They are charged with numerous offences, including theft over $5,000, trafficking in stolen goods over $5,000, mischief over $5,000 and possession of stolen goods over $5,000 for the purpose of trafficking. All four men have been released and are scheduled to appear at the Ontario Court of Justice at a future date in 2025 in Haileybury. Anyone with information on the investigation is asked to contact the OPP at 1-888-310-1122. To remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or submit information online where you may be eligible to receive a cash reward of up to $2,000. Reference No. E250569535.
