Kota Kinabalu: Cement Industries (Sabah) Sdn Bhd (CIS) has increased the price of its cement by five to 15 per cent as of January 4.
Its General Manager Sumardi Mohd Yusof, in a statement Tuesday, said the price rise was necessary due to the high cost of raw materials and shipping (freight) cost.
However, he said the price is still reasonable in comparison to the price of cement in other states.
“This approach is being taken to ensure that CIS can continue to deliver quality cement and satisfy the needs of Sabah.”
The cost of cement manufacturing has recently risen significantly, particularly in 2022. This is owing to present macroeconomic variables and the considerable growth in the value of the US dollar.
“As recently reported in the local media, the price of cement in Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia has skyrocketed. In Peninsular Malaysia, for example, cement prices climbed by up to 30 per cent last year,” he said.
According to him, the CIS cement factory is not an integrated cement plant like the other cement factories in Malaysia.
“CIS has to import raw materials from outside Sabah and this causes CIS to be heavily affected by external factors such as shipping cost and the increase in the US dollar.
“It is also common information that the price of other building materials will continue to rise by 10 per cent to 40 per cent in 2022,” he added.
He assured that CIS will continue to supply adequate and high-quality cement.
“In order to fulfil the aim of ‘Sabah Maju Jaya,’ CIS has diversified its cement products by producing Portland Composite Cement grade 32.5N and High Strength Cement grade 52.N to meet the needs of customers and the building sector in the State,” he said.
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