KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 30 — The Producer Price Index (PPI) for local production increased 12.6 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) in November 2021 as opposed to a decline of 3.0 per cent in the same month last year, mainly due to the surging cost of raw materials, said the Department of Statistics Malaysia.
Chief statistician Datuk Sri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the increase in November 2021 was attributed mainly to the mining index that soared 71.2 per cent in contrast to a 45.8 per cent decline in November 2020, driven by higher prices for crude oil and natural gas.
“The agriculture, forestry and fishing index also increase but at a slower rate of 19.1 per cent (November 2020: 21.5 per cent), largely due to the increase in the indices of oil palm fresh fruit bunches (25.2 per cent), chicken (18.1 per cent) and hen’s eggs (8.3 per cent),” he said in a statement today.
In addition, he said the manufacturing index rose 8.4 per cent in November 2021, contributed by the indices for subsectors of manufacture of refined petroleum products (26.2 per cent) and manufacture of vegetable and animal oils and fats (21.9 per cent), while water supply index increased marginally by 0.2 per cent and the index of electricity and gas supply declined 0.3 per cent.
In terms of a month-on-month comparison, Mohd Uzir said the PPI local production rose 1.4 per cent in November 2021, driven by a 5.9 per cent rise in agriculture, forestry and fishing index, mainly contributed by the indices of growing of perennial crops (8.3 per cent), growing of non-perennial crops (3.0 per cent) and animal production (1.2 per cent).
“The index of oil palm fresh fruit bunches remained virtually unchanged over concerns of insufficient migrant labour in Malaysia’s plantations.
“On the other hand, the price of crude oil slumped due to the discovery of a new Covid-19 variant named Omicron which was first detected in South Africa that led to fears of its spread hence slowing demand for the commodity. This contributed to a 2.3 per cent drop in mining index as opposed to a 5.5 per cent increase recorded last month,” he said.
In addition, he said the manufacturing index grew 1.3 per cent, among which was due to an increase in indices of manufacture of vegetable and animal oils and fats (2.9 per cent), manufacture of refined petroleum products (2.4 per cent), manufacture of basic chemicals, fertilisers and nitrogen compounds, plastics and synthetic rubber in primary forms (1.2 per cent) and the manufacture of basic iron and steel (1.1 per cent) subsectors.
“The utility index showed that the index of electricity and gas supply declined 0.3 per cent, while, water supply index increased 0.9 per cent,” he added.
Commenting on commodity prices that have skyrocketed recently, Mohd Uzir said that in cognisance of the cold weather, strong winds coupled with heavy rain in most places in Malaysia became the factors in rising costs of commodities especially vegetables.
“An insufficient number of workers in plantation areas also reduced output, hence, resulting in disruptions in supply leading to increase in prices.
“Recently, heavy downpours caused massive floods in several states. The floods destroyed most of the crops and thus, may result in the supply chain disruptions which lead to a tendency of pressure on prices,” he said.
— Bernama
