PETALING JAYA: The unit price index of steel decreased 0.5% to 1.6% for almost all areas in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak in February 2025 compared to the previous month.
Chief Statistician Malaysia Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the highest decrease was recorded in Tawau (-1.6%), followed by Perak (-1.4%) and Penang, Kedah & Perlis (-1.2%).
Apart from that, the unit price index of steel and metal sections declined between 0.1% and 2.7% for almost all areas in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak in February compared to the previous month.
The highest decrease was recorded in Miri (-2.7%), followed by Perak (-2.3%) and Terengganu & Kelantan (-0.4%).
The unit price index of cement registered a slight increase of between 0.1% and 2.6% in February compared to the previous month. The highest increase was recorded in Tawau (2.6%), followed by Sandakan (1.8%) and Sibu (1.1%). Concurrently, the unit price index for sand remained unchanged for almost all areas in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak.
An annual comparison of February 2024 and February 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, Kuala Lumpur, Malacca & Negeri Sembilan, and Sandakan (4% respectively), followed by Pahang (3.3%) and Tawau (2.6%).
Nevertheless, the unit price index of steel recorded a decrease of between 3% and 15.3% last month 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 (-15.3%).
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 (-0.5%) with an average price of RM3,545.15 per metric ton compared to the previous month (January 2025: RM3,563.76 per metric ton).
Meanwhile, the average price of Ordinary Portland cement in February showed a slight increase of 1.1%, with an average price of RM23.60 per 50kg bag compared to January (RM23.34).
The Building Cost Index (BCI) with steel bars for all building categories in Peninsular Malaysia recorded a slight decrease of between 0.2% and negative 0.8% in February compared to the previous month. The decrease for BCI with steel was recorded for almost all building categories except in Johor, Pahang and Terengganu & Kelantan.
Additionally, BCI with steel bars in Sabah registered an increase of between 0.1$% and 1.8% for almost all building categories in Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan in February compared to the previous month.
