Concrete and reinforcement steel costs recorded a double-digit increase between Q4 2025 and Q2 2026, driven by sustained construction activity across the GCC, engineering, consultancy and advisory firm AESG said in a report.

Concrete works and reinforcement steel costs climbed 13 percent and 16  percent, respectively.

Meanwhile, concrete supply grew 13 percent, while cement supply rose 4 percent during the period.

Projects worth $951 billion are currently under active execution, the report said, citing MEED data.

Commodity index data revealed that the rebar index rose 6 percent, while the oil and aluminum indices surged 20  percent  and 21  percent , respectively, since the fourth quarter of 2025, with both curves climbing sharply from January 2026 onwards.

AESG’s benchmarking data showed hospitality as the most capital-intensive category in the GCC, with resort-class developments ranging from  15,000 to 20,000 UAE dirhams ($4,084- 5,446) per square metre in the UAE and 16,500 to SAR 23,000 Saudi riyals ($4,396-6,127) per square metre in Saudi Arabia.

“The region’s infrastructure ambitions, population growth dynamics, and long-term tourism and economic diversification goals have not changed. What has evolved is the cost environment in which those ambitions are currently being executed,” said Saeed Al Abbar, CEO of AESG.

(Writing by P Deol; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@lseg.com) 

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