KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 28 — Malaysia’s Producer Price Index (PPI), which measures the price changes of goods at the producer level, fell year-on-year to 2.1 per cent 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 per cent (August 2024: -8.3 per cent).

"The indices for both extraction of crude petroleum and extraction of natural gas went down by 18.6 per cent and 7.9 per cent, respectively.

"At the same time, the manufacturing sector contracted by 1.5 per cent (August 2024: up 1.0 per cent), attributed to the index of manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products (-18.7 per cent),” he said.

Meanwhile, Mohd Uzir said the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector rose by 5.8 per cent (August 2024: 2.7 per cent) with the growing of perennial crops index recording an increase of 11.2 per cent.

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

On a month-on-month basis, Mohd Uzir said the PPI for local production continued to decrease by 1.5 per cent in September (August 2024: -0.9 per cent).

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

For the third quarter of 2024, PPI recorded a marginal decrease of 0.2 per cent compared to 1.6 per cent in the second quarter of 2024, mainly attributed to the performance of the mining sector (-7.7 per cent).

"PPI shrank by 1.6 per cent on a quarter-on-quarter basis compared to 1.1 per cent in the second quarter of 2024, attributed to all sectors except the water supply,” he said.

Looking at selected countries, Mohd Uzir said the United States PPI went up at a slower pace of 1.8 per cent in September against 1.9 per cent in August 2024.

"Japan’s PPI continued to rise 2.8 per cent compared to an increase of 2.6 per cent 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 in the demand forecast by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) for both this year and 2025.

"Concurrently, the Malaysian Palm Oil Board has projected that the price of crude palm oil 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. — Bernama