PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s producer price index (PPI) increased 12% in September 2026 with the mining sector contributing the lion’s share, surging 54.1% due to a 74.2% jump in the extraction of crude petroleum.
PPI tracks prices at the wholesale level and can be used as a gauge of consumer prices down the road, as higher costs would generally be passed through by wholesalers to retailers, who then pass it to consumers, raising inflationary pressures.
The manufacturing sector saw prices increased 9.4% mainly due to the 35% rise in prices of the manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products as well as the manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products, which gained 12.9%.
There was a modest 2.9% rise in the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector, with animal production up 11.9%. The electricity and gas supply sector rose 5.5% while the water supply sector gained 3.2%.
On a month-on-month (m-o-m) basis, the PPI local production rose by 1.6%, with the mining sector recording a 10.3% increase driven by the extraction of crude petroleum index, which rose 13.6%, this was followed by a 0.9% increase in the manufacturing sector, 0.5% gain in the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector, while the water supply index increased 0.4% and electricity and gas supply index declined 0.8%.
All three stages of the production process registered increases in September, with crude materials for further processing jumping 30.3% largely driven by a 35.8% surge in non-food materials.
Intermediate materials, supplies and components increased by 9.7%, with processed fuel and lubricants increasing 19.2%.
The finished goods index grew by 3.6% supported by capital equipment, which gained by 5%.
On a m-o-m basis, crude materials for further processing increased 5%, intermediate materials, supplies and components rose by 0.9%, while finished goods increased by 0.4%.
The PPI local production increased 10.8% in the third quarter (3Q) of financial year 2026, compared with a 7.4% increase in 2Q, with the increase particularly seen in mining, which jumped 41.9% while manufacturing saw an 8.8% rise.
