Producer Price Inflation Records 6.8% For March

The Producer Price Inflation (PPI) rate for March 2020 was 6.8%.

This indicates that between March 2019 and March 2020 (year-on-year), the PPI increased by 6.8 per cent.

This rate represents a 3.7-percentage-point decrease in producer inflation relative to the rate recorded in February 2020 (10.5%).

Thus the month-on-month change in producer price index between February 2020 and March 2020 was -2.1 per cent.

Mining and Quarrying

The PPI in the Mining and Quarrying subsector decreased by 2.4 percentage points over the February 2020 rate of 26.1 per cent to record 23.7 per cent in March 2020.

Manufacturing

The PPI for the Manufacturing subsector, which constituted more than two-thirds of the total industry, decreased by 4.7 percentage points to record 2.1 per cent.

During March 2020, 10 out of the 16 major groups in the Manufacturing sub-sector recorded inflation rates higher than the sector's average of 2.1 per cent. The manufacture of machinery and equipment, not elsewhere recorded (n.e.c.), recorded the highest inflation rate of 24.7 per cent, while the manufacture of coke, refined petroleum products and nuclear fuel recorded a deflation rate of -9.6 per cent.

Utility

The Utility subsector recorded an inflation rate of 12.2 per cent for March 2020, indicating a decrease of 0.1 percentage points over the February 2020 rate of 12.3 per cent.

Industry

In March 2019, the PPI rate for all industry was 7.1 per cent. In April 2019 the rate remained unchanged but declined to 6.7 per cent in May 2019. Since then, the rate increased consistently to record 10.2 per cent in August 2019 but declined to 8.9 per cent in October 2019.

The rate increased again continuously to record 14.5 per cent in January 2020 but declined to record 6.8 per cent in March 2020.

The figures for March 2020 are provisional and are subject to revision when additional data become available. All other indicators are final.

Petroleum Price Index

The producer inflation rate in the Petroleum subsector was 13.0 per cent in March 2019. In April 2019, the rate increased to record 17.2 per cent but declined to 1.2 per cent in June 2019.

However, it increased to 3.1 per cent in August 2019 but declined again to -5.7 per cent in October 2019. Thereafter, the rate increased consistently to record 20.6 per cent in January 2020, but declined consistently to record -9.6 per cent in March 2020.

---Daily Guide