The overall monthly Producer Price Index (PPI) of industrial sector for March 2020 was estimated at 49.2 points, showing a decrease of 17.9 percent, when compared to the previous month’s February 2020. The March PPI showed a decrease of 25.1 percent when compared to the PPI of March 2019, official data released yesterday showed.
The Planning and Statistics Authority (PSA) has calculated the PPI of the industrial sector for March 2020 with the base year 2013. 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 March, 2020 for Mining sector showed a decrease by 21.0 percent when compared with PPI of February 2020, primarily due to the price decline of “Crude petroleum and natural gas” by 21.1 percent. PPI of March 2020, when compared with its counterpart in previous year (March 2019), there was a decrease of 29.9 percent. The PPI of Manufacturing sector recorded a decrease of 11.1 percent in March 2020, when compared with the previous month’s Manufacturing index (February,2020).
The prices decrease are seen in: “Refined Petroleum products” by 14.1 percent, followed by “Basic Chemicals” by 13.5 percent, “Other chemical products and fibers” by 2.1 percent, and “Rubber and Plastics products” by 0.4 percent. However, the increasing prices are noticed in “Basic Metals” by 5.5 percent, “Cement and Other non-metallic products” by 2.9 percent, “Grain mill and Other products” by 1.4 percent, and “Beverages” by 0.1 percent.
No changes noticed in “Juices”, “Dairy products”, and “Paper and Paper products”. Comparing with the index in the previous year (March 2019), “Manufacturing” PPI of March 2020 showed a decrease of 14.7 percent. The major groups which explain this price fall are: “Basic chemicals” by 18.4 percent, followed by “Refined Petroleum products” by 17.2 percent, “Other chemical products and fibers”, and “Basic Metals” by 1.5 percent each, “Rubber and Plastics products” by 0.6 percent, and “Beverages” by 0.5 percent.
However, prices increased in “Paper and Paper Products” by 3.0 percent, followed by “Juices” by 2.6 percent, “Grain mill and Other products” decreased by 1.5 percent, “Dairy products” by 0.3 percent, and “Cement and Other non-metallic products” by 0.2 percent.
The PPI of Electricity and Water group showed a decrease of 7.7 percent compared to February 2020, resulting from the decreasing in “Electricity” by 8.2 percent, and “Water” by 7.2 percent. When compared the PPI of March, 2020, to the PPI of March, 2019 (Y-o-Y), showed a decrease of 5.5 percent, affected by prices fall in “Water” by 7.7 percent, and “Electricity” by 4.1 percent.
