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Doha: Qatar’s overall monthly Producer Price Index (PPI) of Industrial Sector for December 2020 was estimated at 50.7 points, showing an increase of 8.1 percent compared to the previous month’s PPI (November 2020), official data showed. When compared on an annual basis, the PPI of December 2020 showed a decrease of 20.9 percent compared to the corresponding month of 2019, data released by the Planning and Statistics Authority (PSA) show.
Producer price index covers goods relating to “Mining” (weight: 72.7 percent), “Manufacturing” (weight: 26.8 percent), and “Electricity & Water” (weight: 0.5 percent).
The PPI of December 2020 for Mining sector showed an increase by 9.4 percent when compared with the PPI of November 2020, primarily due to the price increase of “Crude petroleum and natural gas” by 9.4 percent, and “Stone, Sand and Clay” increased by 0.8 percent. The PPI of December 2020, when compared with its counterpart in previous year (December 2019), there was a decrease of 25.2 percent.
For the Manufacturing sector index, an increase of 5.6 percent has been recorded in December 2020, when compared with the previous month’s Manufacturing index (November 2020). The increase prices were seen in: “Basic Chemicals” by 9.5 percent, followed by “Refined Petroleum products” by 6.3 percent, “Paper and Paper products” by 2.3 percent, “Rubber and Plastics products” by 1.4 percent, “Juices” by 0.7 percent, “Grain mill and Other products” by 0.5 percent, and “Dairy products” by 0.3 percent.
However, the decreasing prices are noticed in “Basic Metals” by 1.6 percent, and “Beverages” by 0.9 percent. While no change was noticed in “Cement and Other non-metallic products”, and “Other chemical products and fibers”.
Comparing with the index of its counterpart in the previous year (December 2019), the Manufacturing PPI of December 2020 showed a decrease of 11.8 percent. The major groups which explain this price fall are: “Refined Petroleum products” by 16.2 percent, followed by “Basic chemicals” by 11.7 percent, “Other chemical products and fibers” by 6.9 percent, Cement and Other non-metallic products” by 5.8 percent, “Rubber and Plastics products” by 3.1 percent, and “Grain mill and Other products” by 0.3 percent. However, prices increased were seen in “Basic Metals” by 12.9 percent, “Paper and Paper Products” by 6.4 percent, “Juices” by 5.6 percent, and “Dairy products” by 0.1 percent. However no change was noticed in “Beverages”.
The PPI of Electricity and Water group showed an increase of 16.6 percent compared to November 2020, resulting from price increase in “Electricity” by 30.4 percent, and “Water” by 1.5 percent. When compared the PPI of December 2020, to the PPI of December 2019 [Y-o-Y], also showed an increase of 8.3 percent, affected by prices rise in “Water” by 8.5 percent, and “Electricity” by 8.2 percent.
