Domestic PPI rises 10.8 pct for February 2017

Malaysia's domestic Producer Price Index (PPI) for February 2017 rose by 10.8 per cent to 110.4 from 99.6 registered in the same period last year, the Statistics Department said.

In a statement today, the department said, the highest increase was recorded by the mining index (+35.7 per cent) followed by agriculture, forestry and fishing (+29.3 per cent), manufacturing (+7.4 per cent) and electricity and gas supply (+3.0 per cent).

However, it said, the index for water supply decreased by 0.1 per cent.

"On a monthly basis, the PPI for local production improved by 0.7 per cent in February 2017 due to increases in two sectors, namely manufacturing (+1.1 per cent), as well as agriculture, forestry and fishing (+0.2 per cent.

"Meanwhile, mining declined 0.9 per cent, followed by water supply (-0.2 per cent) and electricity & gas supply (-0.1 per cent).

The department said the PPI for local production by stage of processing (SOP) inclined 0.7 per cent in February 2017 compared to the previous month.

This was due to increases in the indices for intermediate materials, supplies and components (+1.3 per cent), finished goods (+0.4 per cent) and crude materials for further processing (+0.1 per cent).

When compared with the same month a year ago, the PPI for local production by SOP for February 2017 increased 10.8 per cent due to increases in the indices for crude materials for further processing (+37.7 per cent), intermediate materials, supplies and components (+7.6 per cent) and finished goods (+0.8 per cent). -- Bernama