South Africa’s Producer Price Index climbs marginally

The annual percentage change in the Producer Price Index (PPI) for final manufactured goods was 7.3% in May 2023 – a 0.6% decrease from April 2023. 

Stats SA reported today that the main contributors to the headline PPI annual inflation rate were: 

• Food products, beverages and tobacco products – increased by 7.0% year-on-year and contributed 1.8 percentage points.
• Paper and printed products – increased by 15.5% year-on-year and contributed 1.2 percentage points.
• Transport equipment – increased by 12.8% year-on-year and contributed 1.1 percentage points.
• Coke, petroleum, chemical, rubber and plastic products – increased by 3.6% year-on-year and contributed 1.0 percentage points.
• Metals, machinery, equipment and computing equipment – increased by 6.1% year-on-year and contributed 0.9 of a percentage point.

The contributors to the headline PPI monthly increase were:  

• Metals, machinery, equipment and computing equipment – increased by 1.2% month-on-month and contributed 0.2 of a percentage point.
• Food products, beverages and tobacco products – increased by 0.2% month-on-month and contributed 0.1 of a percentage point.
• Coke, petroleum, chemical, rubber and plastic products – increased by 0.4% month-on-month and contributed 0.1 of a percentage points.
• Furniture and other manufacturing – increased by 2.1% month-on-month and contributed 0.1 of a percentage point.
• Non-metallic mineral products – increased by 1.9% month-on-month and contributed 0.1 of a percentage point.

The annual percentage change in the PPI for intermediate manufactured goods was 4.4% in May 2023, compared with 4.6% in April 2023. The index increased by 2.0% month-on-month. 

The main contributors to the annual rate were:

• Chemicals, rubber and plastic products – 1.5 percentage points.
• Basic and fabricated metals – 1.5 percentage points.
• Sawmilling and wood – 0.7 of a percentage point.

The main contributor to the monthly rate was basic and fabricated metals, which contributed 1.9 percentage points.

The annual percentage change in the PPI for electricity and water was 15.5% in May 2023, compared with 13.1% in April 2023. The index increased by 3.8% month-on-month. 

Electricity contributed 14.4 percentage points, and water contributed 1.1 percentage points to the annual rate. 

Electricity contributed 3.8 percentage points to the monthly rate. 

The annual percentage change in the PPI for mining was 7.2% in May 2023, compared with 10.5% in April 2023. The index increased by 0.2% month-on-month. 

The main contributors to the annual rate were gold and other metal ores (3.9 percentage points) and coal and gas (2.8 percentage points). 

The main contributor to the monthly rate was non-ferrous metal ores (1.0 percentage point). 

The annual percentage change in the PPI for agriculture, forestry and fishing was 4.5% in May 2023, compared with 6.0% in April 2023. The index decreased by 0.3% month-on-month. 

The main contributors to the annual rate were fishing (2.0 percentage points) and agriculture (1.9 percentage points). The main contributor to the monthly rate was agriculture (-0.5 of a percentage point).