The Australian Bureau of Statistics September Quarter Producer Price Index for September shows inflation for business inputs rising, up 1.3 percent in the September quarter and up 2.2 percent for the year for ‘Stage 3’ production.
The Producer Price Index is a leading indicator of where the Australian Bureau of Statistics Consumer Price Index numbers will sit when released later this month for the September Quarter. With an increase of 1.3 percent during the quarter indicating CPI inflation data will come in above the Reserve Bank of Australia’s target placing pressure on the central bank to increase interest rates at its next board meeting in November.
Businesses paid significantly higher prices for electricity, gas and water (up 8.9%), building construction (up 1.0%). Partly offsetting these increases in producer prices were falls in the prices received for petroleum refining (down 3.3%).
Broken down by sector during the September quarter 2010, the prices paid by manufacturers for material inputs increased by 1.0 percent, while the prices received for their outputs decreased by 0.2 percent. Through the year to September quarter 2010, prices of material inputs increased by 3.5 percent, while prices received for outputs increased by 1.5 percent.
In Construction, the price index of Materials used increased by 0.4 percent in the September quarter 2010. This follows an increase of 1.1 percent in the June quarter 2010 according to the ABS.
