.jpg "Workers are pictured at their stations at Pentamaster Corporation Bhd in Bayan Lepas July 6, 2021. u00e2u20acu201d Picture by Sayuti Zainudin")
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 28 ― Malaysia’s Producer Price Index (PPI) for local production increased 12.3 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) in September 2021, mainly due to a 68.1 per cent y-o-y surge in the mining index.
In a statement today, chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the increase in the PPI was also supported by the growth in the agriculture, forestry and fishing as well as the manufacturing indices, which expanded by 24.8 per cent y-o-y and 7.7 per cent y-o-y, respectively.
However, the electricity and gas supply, as well as water supply indices decreased by 0.2 per cent y-o-y and 0.8 per cent y-o-y, respectively.
On a month-on-month (m-o-m) comparison, Mohd Uzir said the PPI rose by 0.4 per cent in September 2021 compared to the previous month.
“The rebound in petroleum prices and continuous rise in natural gas prices have contributed to the increase of 0.6 per cent in the mining index.
“The manufacturing index moved up 0.4 per cent m-o-m, supported by the higher prices of refined petroleum products,” he said.
Mohd Uzir also said that the agriculture, forestry and fishing index grew at a modest rate of 0.3 per cent m-o-m, due to a slower increase in prices of oil palm fresh fruit bunches.
Meanwhile, the electricity and gas supply, as well as water supply indices recorded a drop of 0.5 per cent m-o-m and 0.1 per cent m-o-m, respectively.
He also noted that the PPI continued to record a double-digit increase of 11.8 per cent y-o-y in the third quarter of 2021, attributing it to the growth in the mining index which rose by 59.0 per cent, driven by higher petroleum and natural gas prices. ― Bernama
