Price index per unit of cement, steel up 1.9% and 1.5% in Feb

KUALA LUMPUR: The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM) said the unit price index of cement rose by 1.9 per cent in February 2023 as compared with January 2023 due to higher raw material prices as well as energy and shipping costs.

In a statement today, DoSM said the average price of cement (ordinary Portland) rose 1.5 per cent to RM21.99 per 50 kilogrammes (kg) from RM21.66/50 kg in January 2023.

February 2023 also saw the price index per unit of steel increase by 1.5 per cent from last month, in tandem with the rise in the prices of iron ore and steel at the global level mainly due to the continuous improvement of industrial demand in China.

DoSM said the average price per unit of steel consisting of mild steel round bars and Mycon 60 high

tensile deformed bars climbed 1.5 per cent to RM3,653.26 per tonne in February 2023 from RM3,599.37 per

tonne in the previous month.

"Iron ore prices are expected to remain elevated driven by optimism about future steel demand in China,” it said.

On a year-on-year basis, the unit price index for cement increased 9.6 per cent in February 2023 compared with February 2022, while the unit price index for steel eased 0.5 per cent in February 2023 from the same month last year.

Meanwhile, it said the Building Materials Cost Index (BCI) (without and including steel bars) for all building categories in Peninsular Malaysia increased between 0.3 and 4.1 per cent in February 2023 compared with the previous month, with timber piling recording the highest increase.

For Sabah, the BCI rose between 0.8 and 8.0 per cent in February 2023 from the previous month, while in Sarawak, the BCI grow between 0.1 and 1.5 per cent for almost all building categories, except in Miri. - Bernama