PUTRAJAYA: The unit price index of cement increased between 0.2% and 2.9% for almost all areas in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak in January 2025 compared to December 2024.
Chief Statistician Malaysia, Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the highest increase was recorded in Sandakan (2.9%) followed by Selangor, W.P. Kuala Lumpur, Malacca and Negri Sembilan (1.2%).
Apart from that, he said the unit price index of steel registered a decline between negative 0.6% and -4.3% for almost all areas in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak in January 2025 as compared to the previous month.
The highest decrease was recorded in Pahang (-4.3%) followed by Sandakan (-2.8%) and Perak (-2.2%). In addition, the unit price index of steel & metal section also registered a decline between -0.2% to -2.7% in January 2025 as compared to the previous month.
An annual comparison for the period of January 2024 and January 2025 indicated that the unit price index of cement increased between 0.2% and 4% for almost all areas in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak. The highest increase was recorded in Selangor, W.P. Kuala Lumpur, Malacca and Negri Sembilan (4%), followed by Pahang (3.3%) and Sandakan (2.2%).
Nevertheless, an annual comparison of the unit price index of steel recorded a decrease between -2.3% and -14.5% in January 2025 as compared to the same month last year for almost all areas in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak. The highest decrease in the unit price index of steel was recorded in Perak (-14.5%).
Mohd Uzir said the average price per unit of steel, consisting of mild steel round bars and Mycon 60 high tensile deformed bars recorded a decrease (-0.7%) with an average price of RM3,563.76 per metric ton as compared to the previous month (December 2024: RM3,588.31 per metric ton).
Meanwhile, the average price of Ordinary Portland cement in January 2025 showed a slight increase of 0.4%, with an average price of RM23.34 per 50kg bag as compared to December 2024 (RM23.25 per 50kg bag).
BCI with steel bars for all building categories in Peninsular Malaysia recorded a slight drop between -0.2% and -1.8% in January 2025 as compared to the previous month. The decrease for BCI with steel was recorded for almost all building categories except for timber building and timber piling.
Additionally, BCI with steel bars in Sabah also showed a slight decrease between -0.1% and -1.9% for almost all building categories (except for timber piling) in Sandakan and Tawau. Meanwhile, BCI in Kota Kinabalu increased by 0.1% to 0.4% across most building categories, except for a 0.5% decrease in the Single Storey Steel Frame (Tower only) index.
A monthly comparison of BCI with steel bars in Sarawak for January 2025 registered a slight increase between 0.1% and 0.2% for almost all categories of buildings in Kuching and Miri. However, BCI with steel bars for almost all building categories in Sibu showed a slight drop between -0.4% and -0.6% for almost all categories of buildings, except a slight increase in the index for timber building and timber piling (0.2%), respectively.
