KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s Producer Price Index (PPI), which measures the price changes of goods at the producer level, increased by 1.6 per cent in March 2024 compared with 0.3 per cent in February 2024, said the Statistics Department (DoSM).
In its latest monthly report of the PPI Local Production, March 2024, DoSM’s chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said all sectors registered an increase in March 2024, contributing to the increase of the overall index.
The mining sector inclined 8.3 per cent (February 2024: 5.3 per cent), due to the index of extraction of crude petroleum (11.0 per cent).
At the same time, the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector increased by 5.5 per cent (February 2024: 6.0 per cent), with the index of growing of perennial crops and animal production going up by 9.0 per cent and 3.8 per cent respectively.
The manufacturing sector increased slightly by 0.6 per cent from a negative 0.7 per cent in the previous month due to the manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products (6.8 per cent) and manufacture of chemicals and chemical products (1.4 per cent).
"For the utility sector, the electricity and gas supply, and water supply indices both went up by 0.1 per cent and 6.0 per cent respectively,” he said in a statement.
On a monthly basis, PPI local production increased by 1.6 per cent versus 0.7 per cent in February 2024 contributed by all sectors.
The agriculture, forestry and fishing sector went up 4.3 per cent (February 2024: 2.6 per cent) due to growing of perennial crops (7.4 per cent) and animal production (1.0 per cent) indices.
The mining sector rose by 2.3 per cent (February 2024: 5.7 per cent) attributed to the extraction of crude petroleum (2.3 per cent).
Mohd Uzir also said PPI local production recorded an increase of 0.4 per cent in the first quarter (1Q) of 2024 after a decrease of 1.0 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2023.
The agriculture, forestry and fisheries sector went up by 4.9 per cent, followed by mining and water supply sectors, which increased by 4.0 per cent and 3.4 per cent respectively.
However, manufacturing and electricity and gas supply both posted a decline of 0.3 per cent and negative 0.2 per cent respectively.
"Meanwhile, quarter-on-quarter showed the PPI inched up 0.6 per cent against negative 0.3 per cent in the 4Q of 2023," said Mohd Uzir.
A comparison of selected countries showed that, the PPI of the United States (US) increased by 2.1 per cent in March as against 1.6 per cent in February 2024.
Besides, the United Kingdom’s (UK) annual inflation rate rose by 0.6 per cent, up from 0.4 per cent in February 2024 due to refined petroleum products and other outputs.
Japan’s PPI edged up 0.8 per cent from a 0.7 per cent rise in the prior month.
"China’s producer price continued to shrink 2.8 per cent compared to a 2.7 per cent drop in the previous month.
"This marked the 18th consecutive month of contraction in factory gate prices since last November, highlighting persistently weak demand as the economy needed fresh stimulus, linked to further drops in mining and quarrying and raw materials," he said.
Mohd Uzir further said that Malaysian property prices are anticipated to grow significantly in the first half of 2024 (1H 2024) due to the challenges of rising cost of building materials, based on the Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association (Rehda)’s Market Outlook for 2024.
According to Rehda, as of December 2023, the average price of sand and concrete in Malaysia had increased by more than 10 per cent year-on-year.
This translated into construction cost that is expected to increase on average by 15 per cent during 1H 2024. - Bernama
