Construction material prices showed mixed trends in June 2026, with steel prices easing slightly while sand continued to record broad-based increases across the country, according to the latest data released by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).
DOSM said the unit price index for sand increased month-on-month across all regions in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak, with gains ranging from 0.5% to 6.4%.
The sharpest increase was recorded in Pulau Pinang, Kedah and Perlis at 6.4%, followed by Johor at 6.1% and Kuching at 4.3%.
The aggregates price index also registered increases across all regions, rising between 0.1% and 5.6% compared with May. Perak recorded the highest increase at 5.6%, followed by Pahang (3.7%) and Johor (3.5%).
In contrast, the steel price index continued to soften in June, declining between 0.1% and 1.2% across Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak.
Perak recorded the largest monthly decline of 1.2%, followed by Sandakan (-0.8%) and Kota Kinabalu (-0.7%).
Meanwhile, cement prices remained broadly stable during the month, with the unit price index unchanged across all regions.
On a year-on-year basis, however, construction material prices remained higher.
The steel price index increased between 0.5% and 8.6% compared with June 2025, with Perak posting the highest annual increase of 8.6%, followed by Johor (6.0%) and Pahang (4.8%).
The cement price index also recorded annual gains ranging from 0.9% to 7.5%. The strongest increases were registered in Kuching and Miri at 7.5% each, followed by Pahang at 6.7%.
Sand prices posted the strongest annual growth among major building materials, increasing between 1.4% and 23.9% across all regions.
In terms of average prices, DOSM reported that the average price of steel, comprising mild steel round bars and Mycon 60 high tensile deformed bars, declined marginally by 0.3% to RM3,507.10 per metric tonne in June from RM3,517.50 per metric tonne in May.
The average price of Ordinary Portland cement also eased slightly, falling 0.9% to RM25.70 per 50kg bag compared with RM25.95 in the previous month.
The latest data indicate that while steel prices continue to stabilise after earlier increases, rising sand and aggregates costs remain a key cost pressure for the construction sector despite relatively stable cement prices.
