Over the past 12 months, the prices charged by producers of goods, distributors, and transportation firms have increased by 2.6 percent. In comparison, contractors of new nonresidential construction say the cost to build five types of nonresidential buildings has jumped 3.8 percent for the month of January and 16.5 percent from the prior year.

“Unfortunately, there has been no letup early this year in the extreme cost runup that contractors endured in 2021,” said Ken Simonson, the Associated General Contractors of America’s (AGC) chief economist. “They are apparently passing on more of those costs but will have a continuing challenge in getting timely deliveries and finding enough workers.”

According to Simonson, an extensive range of inputs played a part in the cost index's more than 20 percent increase. The price index for steel mill products had the most significant increase of about 112.7 percent over 12 months, even though it did decline 1.6 percent in January. The price of architectural coatings, such as paint, had a substantial increase of 9 percent in January and 24.3 percent over the previous year. Other areas with a considerable price increase include roofing asphalt products, 19.8 percent; insulation materials, 19.2 percent; trucking was about 18.3 percent and construction machinery and equipment, which was 11.4 percent.

AGC officials urged federal officials to address supply chain issues and help with the rising price of materials that impact construction firms, including the removal of costly tariffs on key construction materials.

“Spiking materials prices are making it challenging for most firms to profit from any increases in demand for new construction projects,” said Stephen E. Sandherr, the AGC’s chief executive officer. “Left unabated, these price increases will undermine the economic case for many development projects and limit the positive impacts of the new infrastructure bill.”