Energy-rich Qatar's hydrocarbons and manufacturing sectors continued to face significant price pressure this September, as the country's producers' price index (PPI) zoomed 87.2% year-on-year, according to the official estimates.
Qatar's PPI, which captures price pressure felt by producers of goods and services, grew 4.4%on a monthly basis, said the figures released by the Planning and Statistics Authority (PSA).
The PSA 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 hardening of the global crude oil and industrial input prices had its reflection in the PPI.
The mining PPI, which carries the maximum weight of 72.7%, reported a robust 102.2% increase year-on-year in September 2021 as the selling price of crude petroleum and natural gas was seen soaring 102.8%; even as that of stone, sand and clay declined 3.8%.
The mining PPI registered a 5.2% jump on a monthly basis in September this year on the back of a 5.2% jump in the average selling price of crude petroleum and natural gas and 2.6% in stone, sand and clay.
The manufacturing sector PPI, which has a weight of 26.8% in the basket, saw a 63.3% growth year-on-year in September 2021 on the back of a 92.4% surge in the price of basic chemicals, 67.6% in refined petroleum products, 38.3% in basic metals, 9.7% in rubber and plastics products, 3.1% in other chemical products and fibres, 0.8% in dairy products and 0.6% in beverages.
Nevertheless, there was a 3.1% decline in the average selling price of cement and other non-metallic mineral products, 0.8% in juice and 0.8% in grain mill and other products.
The manufacturing sector PPI had seen a monthly 2.8% increase in September 2021 as the average selling price of refined petroleum products shot up 3.9%, cement and other non-metallic mineral products (2%), basic chemicals (1.9%), grain mill and other products (0.2%), dairy products (0.1%) and beverages (0.01%).
However, there was a 2.7% decline in the average selling price of juices and 0.5% in paper and paper products.
The utilities group, which has a mere 0.5% weightage in the PPI basket, saw its index soar 13.8% year-on-year because there was a 22% increase in the average selling price of water and 6.3% in electricity in September 2021.
The index had seen a marginal 0.6% fall month-on-month this September with the average selling price of electricity declining 0.1% and that of water by 1%.