The Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) has released data indicating a 0.8 per cent rise in producer prices for the mining and quarrying sector in March, with a slight 0.1 per cent increase noted in the manufacturing industry.
STATIN said the movement in the mining and quarrying industry was mainly attributed to a similar increase of 0.8 per cent in the index for the major group ‘bauxite mining & alumina processing’. The Institute said the index for the other major group, ‘other mining and quarrying’ moved up by 0.2 per cent.
“These increases were due to the depreciation of the Jamaican dollar vis-à-vis the United States dollar,” STATIN explained.
The increase in the manufacturing industry was mainly due to increases in the index for the major groups: ‘food, beverages & tobacco’ (0.2%) and ‘refined petroleum products’ (0.6%).
For the period March 2023 – March 2024, the index for the mining & quarrying industry declined by 7.1 per cent as a result of a 7.5 per cent fall in the index for the major group, ‘bauxite mining & alumina processing’. However, for the same point to point period, the index for the manufacturing industry increased by 2.2 per cent. Contributing to this increase were the major groups: ‘refined petroleum products’ (7.7 per cent) and ‘food, beverages & tobacco (1.6 per cent).
The average exchange rate for the previous month was used in calculating the PPI for the current period. STATIN said the assumption is that producers would not have purchased their raw materials in the current month.
