Steel price in the UAE rose 10 per cent to Dh2,400 per tonne in September compared to Dh2,200 in the previous month on the back of increase in global prices and higher raw material costs, industry player said.
They also pointed to drop in imports during the second half of this year, according to an Al Ittihad newspaper report.
Meanwhile contractors confirmed the decline in demand due to a slowdown of construction activity in the local market, stressing the need to monitor traders to prevent any manipulation of prices.
Steel price jumped more than 50 per cent in March to about Dh3,000 per tonne from Dh1,900 in the previous month before declining to Dh2,800 in April and Dh2,000 in July. It rose again in August to Dh2,200.
Khaled Edilbi, Director-General of the Arab Building Materials Company, said: “The rise in steel prices in the domestic market is due to external reason such as high world prices, higher prices of raw materials and drop imports”.
The prices of local and imported steel ranged between Dh2,350 to Dh2,400 per tonne in September.
Edilbi stressed that wholesale traders should not be blamed for jacking up the steel price it does not benefit them.
He said building materials market witnessed significant decline during the summer and Ramadan.
Eng Hassan Yosuf, director of Al Ramz Construction Company, said the surge in steel prices in August was unexpected and surprised the industry.
"Despite the optimism among contractors where they anticipated the improvement of the market after Ramadan, but the situation has not changed much, where the recession still affects the market, which means there is no justification for the rise in steel prices” Yosuf said.
Yosuf steel prices continue to rise despite slowdown in construction.