1、 Prosperity index of building materials industry in March

      In March 2022, the boom index of the building materials industry was 132.9 points, higher than the critical point and in the boom range.

      January and February were the "off season" of the building materials industry market, while this year's market demand was weaker than the same period of previous years. The sales volume of some building materials decreased, and the inventory increased. The boom index of the building materials industry was in an obvious recession range. Since March, driven by the policy of national economic development and stable growth, the pull effect has gradually emerged, prompting the market to accelerate its start-up. With the improvement of climate and market environment, the market activity of building materials industry has increased, and the demand has increased significantly. In March, the prosperity of building materials industry has rebounded rapidly.

2、 Sub index of building materials industry

      From the supply side sub index, the price index of building materials industry rebounded slightly, while the production index rebounded significantly. In March, the industrial price index of building materials was 99.0 points, up 2.0 points from the previous month. Although the price of building materials fell month on month, the decline narrowed; The industrial production index of building materials was 134.2 points, up 55.4 points from last month, and the production of building materials products was significantly faster than last month.

      From the perspective of the demand side sub index, the investment demand index, industrial consumption index and international trade index of building materials have rebounded significantly, all of which are in the boom zone. In March, the investment demand index was 132.4 points, up 55.6 points over the previous month; The industrial consumption index was 135.5 points, 56.8 points higher than the previous month; The international trade index of building materials was 144.6 points, an increase of 83.9 points over the previous month, which significantly enhanced the role of the building materials industry.

3、 Operation characteristics of building materials industry in March

      A. In March, the construction materials industry bottomed out. Influenced by factors such as weakening market demand, limiting power supply and production in some regions, and sharply rising commodity prices, the economic operation of the building materials industry has shown a significant downward trend since the end of the third quarter of 2021. Influenced by the operation inertia, market expectation and seasonal factors, the weak operation of the building materials industry in January and February was obvious. In March, driven by the national economic development and stable growth policy, the market started to accelerate, and the pull effect began to show. The operation of the building materials industry bottomed out and rebounded, and the boom index of the building materials industry returned to the boom range.

      B. The market for building materials has generally recovered, showing structural changes. According to the data of the National Bureau of Statistics, in January and February this year, the national fixed asset investment (excluding farmers) increased by 12.2% year on year, including infrastructure investment (excluding power, heat, gas and water production and supply industries), which increased by 8.1% year on year, driving the demand for construction materials; In January and February, the sales of buildings and decoration materials above designated size increased by 6.2% year on year, and the demand for decoration materials continued to recover; The output of automobiles and solar cells increased by more than 10%, and the output of mobile phones, integrated circuits and computers dropped slightly due to the impact of the high base in the same period of last year. However, the industrial demand market is generally stable, and it is expected to continue to rise in March; In January and February, the national real estate development investment increased by 3.7% on a year-on-year basis, and the housing construction area of real estate development enterprises increased by 1.8% on a year-on-year basis. Among them, the newly started housing area decreased by 12.2% on a year-on-year basis, and the completed housing area decreased by 9.8% on a year-on-year basis. The real estate market started slowly, and its support for the building materials industry was significantly weakened.

      C. The price of building materials continues to be weak. Since the beginning of this year, the price index of building materials has been in a recession range. In March, in 13 industries of building materials, the ex factory prices of cement, concrete and cement products, wall materials, waterproof building materials, light building materials, lime gypsum, clay and gravel mining, building technology glass and other eight industries fell month on month; The ex factory prices of thermal insulation materials, mineral fibers and composites, building and sanitary ceramics, building stones, non-metallic minerals and other five industries have rebounded month on month.

      C. The stable operation of the building materials industry is still under great pressure. The stability of the macro-economy and the recovery of market demand will promote the continuous and restorative growth of the production of building materials. However, the current slow start of the real estate market has led to the structural weakening of the building materials market, and the foundation for the recovery of the prosperity of the building materials industry is still not solid. At the same time, repeated outbreaks in many places, high fluctuations in commodity prices, and the implementation of environmental protection, "double carbon" and other policies have had an impact on the production, operation and market demand of building materials, increasing the volatility of the economic operation of the building materials industry, and showing an obvious uncertainty overall.

      This article is reproduced from the WeChat official account of China Building Materials Federation: zgjclhh