KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 26 — Malaysia’s Producer Price Index (PPI) for local production increased 11.7 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) in July 2021, mainly supported by prices of primary commodities, namely crude oil (64.4 per cent), fresh fruit bunches (57.3 per cent) and crude palm oil (42.7 per cent).
The PPI, which measures the costs of goods at the factory gate, rose 11.5 per cent y-o-y in June 2021.
Chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the growth was mainly contributed by the mining index which jumped 57.7 per cent y-o-y due to higher prices of natural gas and continuous increase in crude oil commodity prices.
This was followed by the agriculture, forestry and fishing index which expanded 31.5 per cent y-o-y (June 2021: 29.8 per cent), attributed to the increase in prices of fresh fruit bunches and other commodities.
“Meanwhile, the manufacturing index rose 7.1 per cent y-o-y due to higher prices of primary commodities and construction-related commodities,” he said in a statement today.
In terms of utility indices, Mohd Uzir said water supply as well as the electricity and gas supply indices improved by 1.3 per cent y-o-y and 0.2 per cent y-o-y, respectively.
On a month-on-month (m-o-m) basis, he said the PPI in July 2021 registered a marginal increase of 0.6 per cent versus 0.2 per cent growth in the previous month.
“This positive growth was due to the mining index which grew by 3.9 per cent m-o-m, followed by the agriculture, forestry and fishing as well as the manufacturing indices which increased by 2.2 per cent m-o-m and 0.2 per cent m-o-m, respectively,” he said.
However, Mohd Uzir said both the electricity and gas supply as well as the water supply indices declined 0.2 per cent m-o-m.
Meanwhile, he noted that the increase in the PPI local production by stage of processing was mainly due to the 35.8 per cent y-o-y growth in the crude materials for further processing index.
“Similarly, the index of intermediate materials, supplies and components also increased 10.5 per cent y-o-y.
“However, the index of finished goods registered a decrease of 0.4 per cent y-o-y,” he said.
— Bernama
