Chief Statistician Uzir Mahidin said the unit price index of cement rose by 1.1% in March compared to February, attributed to the rise in production costs, including the price of raw materials such as limestone, coal, energy and shipping costs.

“In addition, the unit price index of building materials recorded an increase between 1.2% and 10.2% in March compared to the same month a year ago.

“The unit price index of cement and bricks, as well as walls, increased by 10.2% and 8.0%, respectively, in March compared to a year ago.

“The unit price index of steel recorded a decrease of 0.6%,” DoSM said in a statement today.

Uzir explained that the average price per unit of steel consisting of mild steel round bars and Mycon 60 high tensile deformed bars was RM3,691.66 per metric tonne, a 0.8% increase from RM3,662.23 per metric tonne in February.

The average price of cement (Ordinary Portland) also increased 1.1% to RM22.40 per 50kg compared to RM22.15 per 50kg in February.

The building cost material index (BCI) without steel bars and including steel bars for all building categories in Peninsular Malaysia increased between 0.2% and 2.7% in March compared to the previous month.

“The BCI without steel bars and including steel bars for Sabah recorded a slower increase for almost all construction categories between 0.1% and 0.5% in March compared to the previous month,” DoSM said.