Qatar’s industrial producers’ earnings displayed robust performance year-on-year in July mainly on higher prices for hydrocarbons, refined petroleum products and other chemical products and fibres, official data suggest.
Qatar’s producer price index (PPI) – a measure of the average selling prices received by the domestic producers for their output – soared 11.1% on a yearly basis but fell 1.5% month-on-month in July this year, said the figures released by the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics (MDPS).
MDPS had released a new PPI series in late 2015. With a base of 2013, it draws on an updated sampling frame and new weights. The previous sampling frame dates from 2006, when the Qatari economy was much smaller than today and the range of products made domestically much narrower.
The PPI for mining, which carries the maximum weight of 72.7%, saw a 14.5% surge year-on-year this July due to 14.5% increase in the price of crude petroleum and natural gas and 2.3% in stone, sand and clay.
The mining PPI was, however, down 1.7% on a monthly basis as crude petroleum and natural gas prices declined 1.7%.
The manufacturing sector, which has a weight of 26.8% in the PPI basket, witnessed a 5.2% increase year-on-year in July 2017 because of a 16.1% expansion in the price of other chemical products and fibres, 9.6% in refined petroleum products, 7.6% in juices, 1.8% in rubber and plastics products and 0.3% in grain mill and other products. However, there was a 3.3% fall in the price of cement and other non-metallic products, 2.7% in paper and paper products, 1.7% in basic metals, 1.3% in dairy products and 0.2% in beverages.
The manufacturing sector PPI had seen a 1.2% fall month-on-month this July on a 3% shrinkage in the price of basic chemicals, 1.2% in refined petroleum products and 1% in cement and other non-metallic products. Nevertheless, rubber and plastics products prices gained 5%, other chemical products and fibres (1.8%), juices (1.5%), dairy products (0.2%) and beverages (0.1%).
The utilities group, which has a mere 0.5% weight in the PPI basket, saw its index grow 9.2% in July 2017 on a yearly basis as water prices soared 26.8%; while that of electricity fell 4.5%.
The index had fallen 5.1% month-on-month in July this year as there was 5.2% and 5% decline in the price of water and electricity respectively.
An oil refinery on the outskirts of Doha (file). Qatar’s producer price index (PPI) soared 11.1% on a yearly basis in July, according to MDPS data.
