PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s Producer Price Index (PPI), which measures the price changes of goods at the producer level, increased by 1.4% in May 2024 compared with 1.9% in the previous month.
Chief Statistician Malaysia Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said that similar to the previous month, all sectors registered increasesin May.
The mining sector increased by 6.6% from a double-digit increase of 10 in the previous month, contributed by extraction of crude petroleum (7.2%) and extraction of natural gas (4.6%) indices.
“The agriculture, forestry & fishing sector went up slightly by 1.3% (April: 5.4%), with the index of animal production and growing of perennial crops up by 3.7% and 3.1%, respectively. At the same time, the manufacturing sector increased further by 1.0% (April: 0.8%) due to the manufacture of computer, electronic & optical products index (9.6%),” he said.
For the utility sector, the water supply index went up 8.7%, while the electricity & gas supply index increased by 1.5%.
On a monthly basis, PPI local production went down by 0.9% from an increase of 0.5% recorded in April. The major sectors experienced a downturn, and this led to a decrease in the overall index. The mining sector declined by 5.5% (April: 2.1%) attributed to extraction of crude petroleum (-6.8%) and extraction of natural gas (-1.7%) indices.
The agriculture, forestry & fishing sector decreased by 4.6% compared to a 0.7% increase in the previous month, largely due to the growing of perennial crops index (-7.8%).
Likewise, the manufacturing sector was down marginally by 0.1% (April: 0.3%) due to the manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products (-2.5%).
Meanwhile, the electricity & gas supply and the water supply indices remained positive, recording increases of 1.1% and 1.4%, respectively.
On PPI local production by stage of processing, Mohd Uzir said, “The crude materials for further processing index increased at a slower pace of 3.7% (April: 7.4%) contributed by the non-food materials index (4.4%). In the meantime, the finished goods index increased further by 3.3% (April: 2.4%), contributed by the capital equipment (6.1%) index.”
However, he added, the intermediate materials, supplies & components decreased by 0.1%, similar to the previous month, attributed to the processed fuel and lubricants (-10.1%) index.
On a monthly basis, the crude materials for further processing index declined by 4.3%, while the intermediate materials, supplies & components index decreased by 0.4%. Meanwhile, the finished goods index was up by 0.7%.
Speaking about selected commodity prices, Mohd Uzir said, “The average price of crude palm oil was RM3,902.50 per tonne in May 2024, an increase of 2.8% from May 2023, but declined by 8.3% as against the April 2024 price.”
According to MIDF Research, the price momentum subsided earlier than expected, returning to February 2024 prices as the risk of hot and dry weather has lessened.
