DOHA: The Monthly Producer Price Index (PPI) of the “Mining group” witnessed the highest 40.3 percent fall (year-on-year) in May 2015 compared to the counterpart index of the corresponding month last year, according to data released by the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics on monthly PPI of Industrial Sector.
However, when compared to the PPI (mining group) of the previous month (April, 2015), the index has increased by 3.4 percent primarily due to the rising prices recorded in crude petroleum and natural gas during the period.
The Ministry today released the monthly PPI index of the industrial sector for May 2015. This is the second monthly PPI release of the new producer price index series calculated with the base year 2013, said a statement.
The index covers goods relating to different sectors, which include: “Mining” (weight: 72.7 percent), “Electricity and Water” (weight: 0.5 percent) and “Manufacturing” (weight: 26.8 percent). Four new sub-groups have been added to the “Manufacturing” group of this new series. These are: “Juices”, “Pulp and paper products”, “Other chemical products”, and “Rubber and plastic products”.
For the “Manufacturing” group PPI, there has been an increase of 2.9 percent in May, 2015, when compared with the previous month’s index of this year. The increasing prices show up in “Basic chemicals” by 5.4 percent, “Refined Petroleum Products” by 2.9 percent, “Other chemical products” by 1.3 percent, and “Cement and other non-metallic products” by 0.4 percent.
On other hand price a decrease has been noticed in “Juices” and “Beverages” by 0.1 percent each, “Dairy products” by 0.2 percent, “Rubber and plastics products” by 0.4 percent; and “Basic Metals” by 0.3 percent.
When compared with the index of the same month last year ( 2014), Manufacturing” PPI of May, 2015 shows a decline of 25.5 percent. The major groups which explain this price fall are “Refined Petroleum Products” by 31 percent, “Basic chemicals” by 19.7 percent, “Basic Metals” by 14.9 percent.
However, price rises were noticed in “Dairy products” by 6.9 percent, “Beverages” by 5.9 percent, “Cement and other non-metallic products” by 5.3 percent, and “Juices” by 3.1 percent.
The PPI of “Electricity and water” shows a decrease of 0.7 percent compared to April 2015, resulting from the price fall seen in Electricity by 1.3 percent. However Water prices slightly increase by 0.1 percent.
The PPI of May, 2015, when compared to the PPI of May, 2014, shows an increase (Y-o-Y) by 2.3 percent, resulting from the combined effect of price rise seen in Electricity and Water by 2.4 percent each.
Based on the changes that have been recorded in the three major groups namely: “Mining (which includes crude and natural gas oil)”, “Manufacturing”, and “Electricity and water”, the PPI for May, 2015 is estimated at 64.2, showing an increase of 3.2 percent from the previous month (April 2015), PPI’s index a decrease of 36.2 percent from the PPI of corresponding month in the previous year (May 2014).
The Peninsula
