KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 30): Malaysia’s Producer Price Index (PPI) for local production rose 11.3% year-on-year (y-o-y) in August 2021, as compared to a 2.8% decline recorded the same month last year, marking the seventh straight month of an upward trend, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).

In a statement on Thursday, DOSM chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the y-o-y growth was underpinned by the mining index, which surged 51.8% in August 2021, as compared to the 33.7% drop recorded a year earlier.

He added that the PPI for local production growth was additionally supported by y-o-y growth of the agriculture, forestry and fishing (27.6%), and manufacturing (7.1%) indexes.

“The utility index also registered a y-o-y increase of 0.4% for electricity and gas supply index, while water supply index recorded a drop of 0.4%,” he said.

Mohd Uzir noted that due to the base effect last year, some primary commodities were seen to have registered unusual increases this year.

“As for example, the index for crude oil and natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) showed an increase since March and May 2021 respectively.

“On the other hand, integrated circuits increased for the first time after continuously recording negative growth for twelve [straight] months,” he added.

On a month-on-month (m-o-m) basis, PPI for local production marginally expanded 0.6% in August 2021, the same growth recorded in July 2021.

Mohd Uzir said the agriculture, forestry and fishing index rose 2.8% m-o-m as opposed to 2.2% achieved in the month prior, due to higher prices of chicken (5.2%) and fresh fruit bunches (3.6%).

However, the mining index registered a decline of 0.8% m-o-m, attributed to the 2.9% m-o-m fall in crude oil prices, despite the 10.1% m-o-m rise in natural gas commodity prices, according to the chief statistician.

“On the other hand, the manufacturing index recorded an increase of 0.4% m-o-m contributed by an increase in the prices of petroleum commodity (2.0%), commodity-based on vegetable and animal oils and fats (0.5%) and products related to electronic components and boards (0.4%).

“Electricity and gas supply also increased 0.1% m-o-m, while water supply index decreased by 0.2% m-o-m,” he noted.

Meanwhile, Mohd Uzir said PPI for local production by stage of processing showed that the crude materials for further processing index surged 30.9% y-o-y in August 2021, as opposed to the 8.7% decrease recorded in the same month a year earlier.

“The increase was contributed by indexes of non-food materials (37.5%), and foodstuffs and feedstuffs (4.4%),” he said.

Similarly, he said the index of intermediate materials, supplies and components also increased 11.2% y-o-y, supported mainly by the growth of processed fuel and lubricants (20%), and materials and components for manufacturing (12.7%) indexes.

“However, the index of finished goods registered a decrease of 1.3% y-o-y,” he noted.

Mohd Uzir said the same y-o-y trend can be seen in its m-o-m comparison, where the indexes of crude materials for further processing and intermediate materials, supplies and components increased 0.6% and 1% respectively, while the finished goods index dropped 0.2%.