Prices paid and received by producers up in latest quarter

The producers price index (PPI) rose in the September 2011 quarter, Statistics New Zealand said today. The PPI measures both prices received by New Zealand producers and prices paid by them.

Prices for goods and services produced in New Zealand (known as output prices), as measured by the PPI, rose 0.2 percent in the September 2011 quarter. This rise in the overall output index was mainly due to a 12.8 percent rise in the price index for the electricity and gas supply industry. Offsetting the rise were lower farm-gate milk and milk powder prices.

Prices for goods and services used by New Zealand producers (known as input prices) rose 0.6 percent.

The index representing prices paid by the electricity and gas supply industry was up 19.3 percent in the September 2011 quarter. The largest offsetting influence came from lower prices paid by the dairy product manufacturing industry (with the inputs price index down 10.2 percent) due to lower farm-gate milk prices.

In the year to the September 2011 quarter, overall output prices increased 3.5 percent, while input prices were up 4.7 percent. 

See also:
Producers Price Index: September 2011 quarter – Information release