| An Indication of Construction Aggregate Price Levels and Trends |
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| Reliable surveys of
sand, gravel and crushed stone products, which are provincial in scope, are not available.
However, data available from the British Columbia Ministry of Transport and Highways
(MOTH) provides an indication of price levels and trends in some of these products. Figures 1 and 2 plot the prices/costs (to MOTH) of crushed gravel
and sand, over a 15 year period. The graphs include current and constant 1985 dollars and
a linear regression, trend-line through the constant dollar points. The trend lines on
both graphs slope upward and to the right which indicates that the crushed gravel and sand
products, have been subject to real price increases over the last fifteen (15) years. The
steeper slope of the trend-line in Figure 1 shows significant real price/cost increases in
crushed gravel, compared with the more gentle upward trend of real price/cost increases in
sand. The slower increases in real sand prices is likely due to the following factors: 1)
sand is generally a by-product of gravel and crushed stone operations, 2) low-cost dredged
sand is periodically available (e.g., note lower price/cost in 1999 over 1998) and 3)
readily available sand is commonly stockpiled in or near quarries, as a waste product. |
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Figure 1. |
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Figure 2. |
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| Figure 3 provides a regional perspective of
pricing throughout British Columbia. Once again, this data reflects prices/costs of
crushed gravel to MOTH. In general, prices are observed to average within a narrow range
from $6.50 to $8.00 per tonne, throughout the province. High prices (over $11.00 per
tonne) reflect situations where crushed gravel is scarce and low prices (less than $4.00
per tonne) tend to reflect situations where pre-crushed inventory was already available. |
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Figure 3. |
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