PUTRAJAYA: A monthly comparison showed a decrease in the unit price index of steel between 0.1% and 4.6% for almost all areas in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak in December 2024 compared to the previous month, said Chief Statistician Malaysia Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin.
The highest decrease was recorded in Perak (-4.6%), followed by Tawau (-2.3%) and Sandakan (-2%).
Apart from that, Mohd Uzir also informed that the unit price index of steel & metal sections registered a decline between negative 0.3% to -0.8% for almost all areas in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak in December 2024 as compared to the previous month. Meanwhile, he said the unit price index of cement remained unchanged for almost all areas in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak in December 2024.
An annual comparison for the period of December 2023 and December 2024 indicated that the unit price index of cement increased between 0.1% and 2.8% for almost all areas in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak.
The highest increaseb was recorded in Selangor, W.P. Kuala Lumpur, Malacca & Negri Sembilan (2.8%), followed by Pahang (2.7%), Penang, Kedah & Perlis and Perak (1.5%), respectively.
Nevertheless, an annual comparison of the unit price index of steel recorded a decrease between -1.7% to -9.7% in December 2024 as compared to the same month last year for almost all areas in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak. The highest decrease was recorded in Perak (-9.7%).
Mohd Uzir said that the average price per unit of steel, consisting of mild steel round bars and Mycon 60 high tensile deformed bars recorded a decrease (-1.1%) with an average price of RM3,588.30 per metric tonne as compared to the previous month (November 2024: RM3,628.90 per metric tonne).
The average price of this material has been declining since July 2024. Meanwhile, the average price of cement (Ordinary Portland) in December 2024 remained unchanged with an average price of RM23.25 per 50kg bag as compared to the previous month.
BCI with steel bars for all building categories recorded a slight decrease between -0.1% to -1.9% in December 2024 as compared to the previous month. The decrease for BCI with steel was recorded for almost all building categories except Timber Piling in Penang, Kedah & Perlis, Johor and Selangor, W.P. Kuala Lumpur, Malacca & Negri Sembilan.
Apart from that, the index for almost all other building categories in Terengganu & Kelantan remained unchanged.
Additionally, BCI with steel bars in Sabah also showed a slight decrease between -0.2% to -0.8% for almost all building categories (except for Timber Building and Timber Piling) in Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan.
Meanwhile, BCI in Tawau recorded a decrease between -0.1% to -0.9% for almost all categories of building except an increase in index for Single Storey (Reinforced Concrete) Building (0.1%), Single Storey Steel Frame (Building) (0.2%) and Timber Building (0.5%).
A monthly comparison of BCI with steel bars in Sarawak for December 2024 also registered a slight decrease between -0.2% to -0.5% for almost all categories of buildings (except Timber Building and Timber Piling) in Kuching and Sibu. However, BCI with steel bars for almost all building categories in Miri showed a slight decrease between -0.1% and -0.2% for almost all categories of buildings.
