ANA REPORTER
PRETORIA April 30 (ANA) – The Producer Price Index rose 3,1% in March on a year-on-year basis, figures from Stats SA showed on Thursday.
The index measures price increases at the factory gate, giving an indication of consumer prices ahead. The monthly increase from February to March was 1,8%.
PPI for water and electricity was up by 8,6% year on year, suggesting that businesses will struggle with high input costs for the foreseeable future.
The main contributor to the annual increase in headline PPI was food, beverages and tobacco products, which rose by 6% and contributed 2 percentage points to the 3,1% increase.
The primary industries of mining and agriculture, forestry and fishing had negative factory gate inflation, at -4,4% for mining and at -1% for agriculture, forestry and fishing.
