The Construction Costs Index of the A.C. of the Basque Country rose by 0.3% in October 2004 with regard to the previous month, according to EUSTAT data. The inter-annual rate for October came to 7.2%, 3.8% corresponding to labour costs and 8.8% to raw material costs.

Raw material costs rose by 0.4% in relation to the previous month, rising 0.3% for Building and 0.6% for civil Works. The inter-annual evolution of these two subsectors show that with reference to raw materials consumed, both follow quite homogeneous trends: raw material costs for Building and Civil Works have risen 8.8% and 8.6%, respectively.

In October the highest growth in prices corresponded to raw materials consumed by Asphalt products (8.2%), Oil by-products (8.2%), Explosives and gases (2.9%), Oils and greases (2.8%) and Metal piping (2.0%). Prices fell, however, for the raw materials of Electric energy (-4.8%), Equipment and electric material (-0.7%), Artififical cement (-0.6%) and Lime, gypsum and plaster (-0.6%), among others.

Among the prices of raw materials consumed by the sector that have risen most over the last twelve months are: Metal piping (41.2%), Asphalt products (37.6%), Iron and steel (36.0%), Oil by-products (28.9%) and Articles derived from cement (9.8%), mainly. Also, reductions were registered for the inter-annual prices (October 2004 in relation to October 2003) of raw materials for Glass (-4.3%), Electric energy (-3.7%), Office material (-2.0%),and Wood and cork (-0.5%).