Data released by the Statistical Center of Iran (SCI) show that the producer price index (PPI) in the industrial sector reached 192.0 points in the past Iranian year (ended March 20), indicating a 16.1% increase compared with the previous year, Mehr news agency reported.
The PPI of 14.3% was recorded in the first quarter of the year, while the figure stood at 0.9%, 0.3% and -3.6% in the second, third, and fourth quarters respectively. Coal and refinery subsectors, with 44.2% increase, had the biggest impact on the PPI growth.
The PPI is the most frequently cited measure of inflation. It measures the average changes in prices received by domestic producers of goods and services over time. The PPI is somewhat similar to the CPI (consumer price index) with the exception that it looks at rising prices from the perspective of the producer rather than the consumer. While the CPI looks at final prices realized by the consumers, the PPI takes one step back and determines the change in output prices faced by producers.
While the PPIs for food sector, nonmetallic minerals and chemicals indicated considerable growths in comparison with the previous year, the index for wood products, digital goods, base metal, and paper manufacturing industries did not undergo any significant changes.
The PPI for the mining sector reached 225.7 points in the last quarter of the year, up 35.1% compared with the same period in the preceding year.
There are three basic measures of PPI based on the various stages of processing: the index can be measured on crude, intermediate and finished goods. The report indicates that while the value of crude or input materials in the mining sector did not grow considerably over the period, intermediate costs such as labor, utility and transportation expenses increased dramatically.
