On a month-on-month basis, January’s producer inflation for final manufactured goods fell to 0.3% from 0.6% in December.
The producer price index is a weighted index of prices measured at the wholesale or producer level.
Petroleum, chemical, rubber and plastic products were the main contributors to the annual inflation of 5.1% for producers, while the main contributor to the 0. 3% January PPI increase was transport equipment.
Farm and factory gate inflation for water and electricity increased by 3% y/y in January 2018.
Stats SA updated the product list for the PPI in January to reflect the manufacturing industry large sample survey, making the figure difficult to predict ahead of time for economists.
The consumer price index, which measures the average of prices of a basket of consumer goods and services, slowed to 4.4% y/y in January, Stats SA said last week.
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