Chief Statistician Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the price increase had caused costs to increase 0.3% to 3.1% in the peninsula and Sabah.

As for Sarawak, the increase recorded under the department’s building materials cost index (BCI) was 0.4% to 2.4%, he said.

Uzir said the average unit price of steel increased by 21% last year compared with 18% in 2020.

He said the increase was inevitable as global iron ore prices had hit their peak at US$214.14 (RM900) per tonne last July.

Apart from iron ore, prices of other metal and mineral materials such as aluminium, copper, lead, nickel and zinc were higher in 2020.

Citing a World Bank report, Uzir said iron ore prices were expected to go down due to slower demand from China.

He said India increased its steel production by 19.3% from January to November last year, followed by the US (18.9%) and Japan (16.8%) during the same period.

Uzir said locally, the highest increase in steel prices was recorded in Johor (4.8%), followed by Miri (3.2%) and Kuching (2.8%).

Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Melaka and Negeri Sembilan recorded a 1.3% increase, followed by Kota Kinabalu (1.2%), and Penang, Kedah and Perlis (0.2%).

Cement prices increased marginally by 0.4% last month, with Sandakan recording the highest increase of 2.5%, followed by Kota Kinabalu (2.3%) and Penang, Kedah and Perlis (1.9%).

Terengganu and Kelantan recorded an increase of 1.5% in cement prices, followed by Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Negeri Sembilan and Melaka (1.4%), Pahang (0.9%), Johor (0.8%) and Perak (0.6%).