KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 29 — Malaysia’s producer price index (PPI) has eased further to 3.2 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) in November 2022 from four per cent y-o-y in the previous month, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).
The nation’s PPI, which measures the prices of goods at the factory gate, was lower than the PPI in Germany (+28.2 per cent y-o-y), Japan (+9.3 per cent y-o-y), the United States (+7.4 per cent y-o-y), Thailand (+7.2 per cent y-o-y) and South Korea (+6.3 per cent y-o-y).
In a statement today, DOSM said November’s PPI was mainly weighed down by the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector which contracted further to -18.5 per cent y-o-y from -18.2 per cent y-o-y in October 2022.
“The index for this sector has been recording a double-digit decline for five consecutive months,” it said.
Nonetheless, DOSM said November’s index was buoyed by growth in the manufacturing sector (+6.2 per cent y-o-y), water supply sector (+4.2 per cent y-o-y), mining sector (+2.4 per cent y-o-y) as well as electricity and gas supply sector (+1.4 per cent y-o-y).
On a monthly basis, it said PPI local production rose by 0.6 per cent in November 2022 versus 0.1 per cent in October 2022, mainly supported by the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector (+5.5 per cent), mining sector (+0.5 per cent), as well as manufacturing and water supply sectors (both up by 0.2 per cent).
The electricity and gas supply sector contracted 0.1 per cent month-on-month (m-o-m) from an increase of 0.4 per cent m-o-m in October 2022, it said.
In terms of PPI local production by stage of processing, the department said crude materials for further processing index contracted 8.5 per cent y-o-y in November 2022, while the intermediate materials, supplies and components index increased 7.7 per cent y-o-y in the same month.
The finished goods index also posted an increase of 3.3 per cent y-o-y in November 2022, it added.
On a month-on-month basis, it said the crude materials for further processing index increased by 2.6 per cent and the finished goods index grew by 0.7 per cent, whereas the intermediate materials, supplies and components index decreased by 0.1 per cent.
— Bernama
