(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Persistent weakness in crude oil painted a gloomy picture for domestic producers in Qatar with the country's producer price index (PPI) plummeting 18.3% year-on-year (y-o-y) in November 20014, according to official figures.
Substantial fall in the price of crude, refined petroleum products, basic chemicals and utilities dragged the PPI for the industrial sector, which is calculated using the average of 2006 prices as base. The latest figures were yesterday released by the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics.
The PPI, which measures average changes in prices received by domestic producers for their output, fell 5.3% against October 2014 on lower prices for refined petroleum goods, basic chemicals and crude.
The PPI for mining, which carries the maximum weight of 77% in the basket, tanked 19.8% y-o-y in November due to a similar decline in the price of crude petroleum and natural gas; while that of stone, sand and clay was up 0.4%.
The mining sector PPI reported 5.1% shrinkage month-on-month due to a similar fall in the prices of crude petroleum and natural gas.
The manufacturing sector, with a weight of 21% in the PPI basket, reported 13.3% plunge y-o-y in November 2014, explained by a 18.9% decline in the price of refined petroleum goods, 7.4% in basic chemicals and 1% in beverages; whereas dairy products became costlier by 5.3%, basic metals by 1.6%, grain mill and other products by 0.6% and cement and other non-metallic products by 0.1%.
The manufacturing sector witnessed 7% decline on account of 8.9% fall in the price of refined petroleum products, 7.3% in basic chemicals, 1.9% in cement and other non-metallic products and 0.1% in dairy products.
The electricity and water group, which has a 2% weight in the PPI basket, saw its index fall 2.9% y-o-y in November with electricity and water prices falling 3.8% and 1.5% respectively.
The index had, however, risen 1.8% against the previous month mainly on 2.9% increase in the price of electricity.
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.