UK construction sector growth rebounded to a 17-month high in May according to the latest Markit/Chartered Institute of  Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) survey monitored by Kallanish.

Business activity rose at the fastest pace since December 2015, residential work replaced civil engineering as the best performing category, and input cost inflation moderated to  a seven-month low, Market/CIPS says.

The seasonally adjusted IHS Markit/CIPS UK Construction Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) posted 56.0 in May, up sharply from 53.1 in April, to signal the strongest expansion of overall business activity for 17 months. While the headline index signalled robust growth momentum during May, the latest reading was still much weaker than the post-crisis peak of 64.6 seen in January 2014, the survey suggests.

The steel-intensive commercial sector showed up as being the weakest sub-category in the month, although the latest rise in activity was the fastest since March 2016.

Overall, input prices rose at the slowest pace for seven months suggesting that the post-Brexit vote “… wave of inflation from imported materials now appears to have passed its peak,” Markit/CIPS adds.

The main UK producer of structural steels, British Steel, confirmed during its results presentation on 1 June that it had had to raise prices during the first half of 2017. This was due to a 44% increase in raw material costs, the steelmaker said.