Qatar's industrial producers' earnings witnessed a robust double-digit expansion year-on-year in September 2018 on the back of strong prices, especially for crude, refined petroleum products, basic chemicals, dairy products and paper, according to official estimates.

Qatar's producer price index (PPI) – a measure of the average selling prices received by the domestic producers for their output – surged 36.1% on a yearly basis and 1.9% month-on-month during the review period, 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 42.8% surge year-on-year in September 2018 on account of 43.1% increase in the price of crude petroleum and natural gas and 3.3% in stone, sand and clay.
The mining PPI rose 1.4% on a monthly basis as crude petroleum and natural gas prices grew 1.6% and stone, sand and clay by 0.2%.
The manufacturing sector, which has a weight of 26.8% in the PPI basket, witnessed 23.6% yearly expansion this September owing to a 31.9% surge in the price of refined petroleum products, 15.6% in dairy products, 12.7% in basic chemicals, 11.1% in basic metals, 10.7% in paper and paper products, 7.5% in juices, 5.5% in other chemical products and fibres, 1.1% in rubber and plastics products and 0.2% in beverages.
However, there was a 4.1% decline in the price of cement and other non-metallic mineral products; even as grain mill and other products' prices were unchanged.
The manufacturing sector PPI had seen a 3% jump month-on-month in September 2018 as price of refined petroleum products rose 4.1%, basic chemicals 2.8%, dairy products 1.9% and beverages 0.5%; whereas basic metals saw 2.2% decline in price, 1% in rubber and plastics products, 0.8% in cement and other non-metallic mineral products and 0.1% in grain mill and other products. The prices of paper and paper products as well as grain mill and other products remained unchanged.
The utilities group, which has a mere 0.5% weightage in the PPI basket, saw its index expand 3.9% on yearly basis in September 2018 as water and electricity prices had grown 6% and 1.6% respectively.
The index had risen by a marginal 0.1% month-on-month as the 6.1% growth in water prices was contained by a 5.8% fall in the price of electricity.