MALAYSIA’S Producer Price Index (PPI) declined to -3% in April 2023 from -2.9% in March 2023, the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) said.

The PPI reduction for April was mainly due to the decline in the agriculture, forestry and fishing as well as mining sectors, it said in a statement today.

The department said the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector continued to show a negative trend for 10 consecutive months, recording -26% compared to -28.7% in March. 

Meanwhile, the mining sector also declined by 4.7% in April 2023 from -11.5% in the previous month, due to a decrease in the extraction of crude petroleum index by -12.5%. 

On a monthly basis, the PPI for local production posted a marginal increase of 0.2% in April 2023 as compared to 0.3% in the previous month. 

The agriculture, forestry, and fishing sector went up 0.8%, attributed to the increase in the growing of perennial crops index (1.1%), while the mining sector posted an increase of 0.5%, in tandem with the increase of extraction of crude petroleum index (1.5%).

The manufacturing sector inched up 0.1%, due to the manufacture of food products (0.9%) and manufacture of chemicals and chemical products (0.7%) indices.

On the other hand, the electricity and gas sector decreased by -0.6% as against 0.5% in the previous month, while the water supply sector remained unchanged.

DOSM also said the volatility of prices, particularly in energy and food products, affected the index of producer prices for most countries.

The PPI of the United States edged up 2.3% after an increase of 2.7% in March 2023, which can be traced in final demand foods, particularly in fresh fruits, melons and eggs for fresh use indices.

However, India’s producer inflation declined by -0.9% (March 2023: 1.3%) for the first time since July 2020, while China’s producer price also continued to slip by -3.6% from -2.5% in the previous month.

Japan’s PPI eased to 5.8% as compared to 7.4 per cent in the previous month. – Bernama, May 29, 2023.