KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 28): Malaysia’s producer price index (PPI), which measures price changes of goods at the producer level, fell year-on-year by 2.1% in September after seven consecutive months of growth, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).

Chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the biggest percentage decrease was recorded by the mining sector, which posted a double-digit drop of 16.1% (August: -8.3%).

“The indices went down by 18.6% for the extraction of crude petroleum and 7.9% for the extraction of natural gas.

“At the same time, the manufacturing sector contracted by 1.5% (August: up 1.0%), attributed to the index of manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products (-18.7%),” he said. 

Meanwhile, Mohd Uzir said the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector rose by 5.8% (August: 2.7%), with the growing of perennial crops index recording an increase of 11.2%.

“For utility sectors, the water supply index edged up by 7.8%, while the electricity and gas supply index went up by 0.3%,” he added. 

On a month-on-month basis, Mohd Uzir said the PPI for local production continued to decrease by 1.5% in September (August: -0.9%).

All sectors recorded a decrease, except the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector (up 1.6%).

For the third quarter of 2024 (3Q2024), the PPI saw a marginal decrease of 0.2%, compared with 1.6% in 2Q2024, mainly attributed to the performance of the mining sector (-7.7%).

“The PPI shrank by 1.6% on a quarter-on-quarter basis, compared with 1.1% in 2Q2024, attributed to all sectors except water supply,” he said. 

Looking at selected countries, Mohd Uzir said the US PPI went up at a slower pace of 1.8% in September, against 1.9% in August.

“Japan’s PPI continued to rise 2.8%, compared with an increase of 2.6% in the previous month, contributed by the cost of transport equipment and beverages and foods,” he said. 

Regarding Malaysia’s current selected commodity prices, he noted that global oil prices settled at US$74 per barrel — the lowest level since December 2021 — following a revision of the demand forecasts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (Opec+) for this year and 2025.

“Concurrently, the Malaysian Palm Oil Board has projected that crude palm oil prices will remain around RM4,000 per tonne by year end.

“However, there is potential for the price of this commodity to increase further, driven by a decrease in production, which could lead to lower stock levels within the country and positively affect prices,” he said. 

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