KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 27): Malaysia’s producer price index (PPI), which measures price changes of goods at the producer level, fell by 2.4% in October, said the Department of Statistics Malaysia.
The index continued its downward trend after falling 2.1% in September.
Chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said that similar to the previous month, the decrease in October was mainly attributed to the mining sector, which fell by 17.3% (September: -16.1%).
“The indices went down for both crude petroleum extraction (-21.7%) and natural gas extraction (-1.7%).
“Apart from that, the manufacturing sector also decreased by 2.6% (September: -1.5%), affected by the index of manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products (-21.6%),” he said.
In contrary, Mohd Uzir said the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector went up by 13.8% (September: 5.8%), with the growing of perennial crops index recording an increase of 24.3%.
“For the utility sector, the water supply index increased by 6.9%, while the electricity and gas supply index edged up by 0.8%,” he added.
On a month-on-month basis, Mohd Uzir said the PPI for local production decreased by 0.7% in October (September: -1.5%).
All sectors recorded a decrease except the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector, which went up by 6.0% (September: 1.6%), contributed by growth in the perennial crops index (9.0%).
Looking at selected countries, the chief statistician said the US PPI went up by 2.4% in October, versus 1.9% in September, particularly due to the final demand index.
He added that Japan’s PPI rose by 3.4% from 3.1% in the previous month, contributed by the cost of agriculture, forestry and fishery products.
Regarding Malaysia’s current selected commodity prices, he said that according to the World Bank, commodity prices are anticipated to experience a 5.0% decrease in 2025, followed by a 2.0% decline in 2026.
“These projections are primarily influenced by an expected fall in oil prices, moderated by increases in natural gas prices.
Meanwhile, Mohd Uzir noted that crude palm oil prices, which hovered around RM4,400 per tonne in October, saw an increase from an average price of RM4,000 per tonne in the preceding month.
“The Malaysian Palm Oil Board attributed this rise to market uncertainties and a decline in Malaysia’s palm oil inventories.
“These (uncertainties) include inventory levels of palm oil in India as the world’s largest importer, and global trends in the production and consumption of vegetable oils in 2025,” he said.
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