KUALA LUMPUR, June 30 — Malaysia’s Producer Price Index (PPI) for local production stood at a new high of 111.6 index points after registering an increase of 11.9 per cent in May 2021 as compared to the same period last year, the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) said.
In a statement, chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the growth was driven by the substantial increase in primary industry products which led to the spike in mining (68.5 per cent) as well as agriculture, forestry and fishing (60.0 per cent).
“Additionally, the manufacturing index, which was influenced by the rise in primary and construction-related commodities prices, also showed a significant increase of 5.0 per cent,” he said.
Meanwhile, the utility indices comprising water supply and electricity and gas supply also increased by 1.5 per cent and 0.1 per cent, respectively.
On a monthly basis, Mohd Uzir said the PPI for local production rose 1.0 per cent in May 2021 as compared to 0.8 per cent in the previous month.
“The increase was supported by mining index (2.1 per cent), followed by agriculture, forestry and fishing (2.0 per cent), manufacturing (0.7 per cent), electricity and gas supply (0.7 per cent) and water supply (0.1 per cent),” he explained.
The DOSM also reported PPI for local production by stage of processing, in which all stages of processing recorded an increase in price for May 2021.
It said the crude materials index for further processing rose 53.6 per cent, while the index of intermediate materials, supplies and components also increased 6.9 per cent.
“Subsequently, with higher prices of raw and intermediate materials, the finished goods index edged up 0.2 per cent mainly involving consumer goods which as a result may reflect in the upcoming Monthly Consumer Price Index,” it added.
— Bernama
