CLICK TO ENLARGE

       KUALA LUMPUR: The Producer Price Index (PPI) for local production increased 11.3% year-on-year (y-o-y) in August, compared with negative 2.8% in the same month in 2020, mainly due to a surge in the mining index (51.8%).

       In a statement, chief statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the increase in PPI was also supported by the agriculture, forestry and fishing index which grew 27.6% y-o-y, manufacturing (7.1%), and electricity and gas supply (0.4%).

       Water supply, however, eased 0.4%, he said, adding that some primary commodities were seen to have registered unusual increases this year due to the base effect last year.

       Chief statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin (file pic) said the increase in PPI was also supported by the agriculture, forestry and fishing index which grew 27.6% y-o-y, manufacturing (7.1%), and electricity and gas supply (0.4%).

       On a month-on-month comparison, he said the PPI, which measures the costs of goods at the factory gate, rose 0.6% in August, the same growth recorded in July.

       “The agriculture, forestry and fishing index moved up 2.8% in August 2021 as opposed to 2.2% recorded in the previous month.

       “The increase of 0.6 percentage point was due to higher prices of chicken (5.2%) and fresh fruit bunches (3.6%),” he said.

       The mining index declined 0.8% due to a fall in crude oil prices (down 2.9%) despite a continuous rise in natural gas commodity prices (10.1%). — Bernama