PETALING JAYA: The Producer Price Index (PPI) of local production which measures costs for goods at the factory gate decreased 5.5% year-on-year in May 2020, marking the third consecutive month in a row of the index to fall into negative territory.
Out of 1,063 items covered in PPI, 42.9% of items recorded price increase in May 2020 as compared to May 2019. On the contrary, 49.9% of items showed a decline while 7.2% of items were unchanged.
Chief statistician Malaysia Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the decrease in the overall index was driven by the decline in the index of mining (-52.7%) due to the slump in the global commodity prices namely crude oils and natural gas. In addition, water supply (-1.1%), manufacturing (-0.8%) and electricity & gas supply (-0.2%) were also contributed to the decrease in the index.
Conversely, the index of agriculture, forestry & fishing edged up by 5.5%. PPI of local production for the period of January-May 2020 registered a decrease of 1.8% as compared to the same period last year.
As compared to the previous month, the PPI of local production declined marginally by 0.2% in May 2020. This marginal decline was supported by a 16.6% increase in the mining index which offset the fall in four other industries: agriculture, forestry & fishing (-4.5%), manufacturing (-0.8%), electricity & gas supply (-0.3%) and water supply (-0.3%). This was the first positive in the mining index after declining for fourth consecutive months since January 2020.
The PPI of local production by stage of processing in May 2020 for crude materials for further processing and intermediate materials, supplies & components decreased 26.6% and 0.9% respectively as compared to the same month of the preceding year. Meanwhile, finished goods rose 0.2%.
