KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s domestic Producer Price Index (PPI) for December 2014 fell 1.9 per cent to 122.5 from 124.9 in November, the Statistics Department said yesterday.
“The decrease in the overall index was mainly due to the negative changes in three categories — mining (-13.3 per cent), fishing (-1.6 per cent) and manufacturing (-1.1 per cent).
“However, the index for agriculture went up by 0.5 per cent and electricity, gas and water supply (+0.4 per cent),” the department said in a statement.
Year-on-year, the domestic PPI decreased 4.4 per cent with the local production index moving down 6.0 per cent while the import price index slipped 0.6 per cent.
Meanwhile, the import price index fell 0.6 per cent, year-on-year, in December to 112.3 from 113 recorded in the corresponding month last year.
The decrease in prices were found in three commodity sections — mineral fuels, lubricants (-11.0 per cent), animal and vegetable oils and fats (-2.4 per cent) and crude materials, inedible (-0.3 per cent).
In contrast, indices for food increase (+1.6 per cent), miscellaneous transactions and commodities (+1.5 per cent), machinery and transport equipment (+0.6 per cent), miscellaneous manufactured articles (+0.5 per cent), manufactured goods (+0.3 per cent) and beverages and tobacco (+0.2 per cent). — Bernama