The South African construction industry experienced a notable acceleration in input cost inflation during May 2026, with the Composite Construction Material Price Index increasing by 2.3% month-on-month and 8.4% year-on-year. This represents a sharp increase from the 4.5% annual inflation rate recorded in April, making May one of the strongest monthly accelerations in construction costs seen over the past year. More importantly, the increase was not driven by a single product category. Instead, it reflects broad-based price increases across building materials, civil engineering products, infrastructure inputs and electrical equipment, suggesting that inflationary pressures are becoming increasingly embedded throughout the construction supply chain.
One of the biggest contributors to the increase was the continued escalation in building material prices. Cement remained one of the strongest annual performers, with prices increasing by 16.3% compared with a year earlier (although this is being disputed by industry players, having been distorted by the methodology applied by Stats SA in their manufacturing survey). Stats SA recently started surveying cement prices….. Download the May 2026 Review here (available to subscribers)
