KUALA LUMPUR (May 31): Malaysia’s Producer Price Index (PPI) for local production grew by 10.6% in April, 3.9 percentage points (ppts) higher than 6.7% recorded in the previous month.

In a statement today, Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the growth was driven by the mining index, which surged 92.4% from 32% in March.

“The sharp rise was mainly due to a low-base effect and continued rise in commodity and raw material prices as the result of a recovery in global demand and various supply constraints,” he said.

Meanwhile, the agriculture, forestry and fishing index continued to increase 49.8%, compared with 41.1% in the previous month.

The manufacturing and water supply indices also increased 3.5% and 1.2% respectively.

The electricity and gas supply index, however, declined by 0.8%.

Mohd Uzir said on a monthly basis, the PPI's local production registered a marginal increase of 0.8% in April, compared with 0.7% in the previous month.

According to him, all sectors showed momentum of growth, including agriculture, forestry and fishing (2.8%), mining (1.2%), water supply (0.6%), manufacturing (0.5%), and electricity and gas supply (0.3%).

The DOSM also reported that for stages of processing, the index of crude materials for further processing surged to 55.8% in April, compared with 31.8% recorded in March.

It said the index of Intermediate materials, supplies and components also increased 4.8%.

Meanwhile, the finished goods index contracted by 0.7% due to lower prices of semiconductor-related electric and electronics components and motor vehicles.

However, finished goods related to food products registered an increase of 3.8%.