Producer Price Indexes, Australia

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Contains a range of producer price indexes in the Australian economy, comprising mining, manufacturing, construction and services industries.

Reference period
December 2020
Released
29/01/2021

Key statistics

Final demand (excluding exports)

  • Rose 0.5% this quarter.
  • Fell 0.1% over the past twelve months.

Quarterly change

Final demand (excluding exports)

  • Rises in building construction (+0.5%), child care services (+7.9%) and accommodation (+4.3%).
  • Falls in specialised machinery and equipment manufacturing (-2.4%), sugar and confectionary manufacturing (-5.2%) and cigarette and tobacco manufacturing (-5.0%).
 Sep Qtr 20 to Dec Qtr 20Dec Qtr 19 to Dec Qtr 20
Final demand

% change

% change

Final demand (excl. exports)0.5

-0.1

Index reference period: 2011-12 - 100.0.

Rounding

Any discrepancies between totals and sums of components in this publication are due to rounding.

Additional information

The compilation of the quarterly Producer Price Index for the Output of the Retail Trade Industry, normally released as an additional update of the Producer Price Indexes, Australia (ABS cat. No. 6427.0), has been paused indefinitely as a result of changing priorities within the ABS as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Construction

Input to the house construction industry

Input to the house construction industry rose 0.1%, due to:

General price rises for:

  • Timber, board and joinery (+0.5%)
  • Electrical equipment (+1.2%)
  • Concrete, cement and sand (+1.1%)
     

Offset by:

  • Other materials (-0.9%)
  • Ceramic products (-0.9%)
     

State Capital city increases were in:

  • Melbourne (+0.5%)
  • Hobart (+0.8%)
  • Sydney (+0.1%)

Partly offset by:

  • Brisbane (-0.4%)
  • Adelaide (-0.3%)

Perth (0.0%), recorded no movement for the quarter.

Over the past twelve months Inputs to House construction rose 1.8%, due to rises in prices for:

  • Plumbing products (+0.4%)
  • Other metal products (+0.4%)
  • Cement products (+2.8%)

Output of the construction industry

Building construction rose 0.6% this quarter and rose 0.8% over the past twelve months.

The quarterly movement is driven by:

  • House construction (+1.8%)
  • Non-residential construction (+0.2%)

Partially offset by:

  • Other residential building construction (-0.2%).

House construction rose 1.8%, driven by:

  • House builders passing through higher input costs and increased base prices amid increased enquiries linked to the government HomeBuilder program.
  • Victoria (+1.5%)
  • Queensland (+2.9%)
  • Western Australia (+3.7%)
  • Over the past twelve months House construction rose 2.9%.

Comparison of PPI Output of House Construction and CPI New Dwelling Purchase:

The Producer Price Index, Output of House Construction, measures the price received, by the producer from the purchaser, for owner occupier and investor house construction. It excludes grants, rebates and subsidies in the price payable by the purchaser. The Consumer Price Index, New dwelling purchase by owner occupiers series, measures the out of pocket cost to the purchaser. It includes grants, rebates and subsidies in the price payable by the purchaser.

The December quarter 2020 difference between (PPI) Output of house construction (+1.8%) and (CPI) New dwellings purchased by owner occupiers (+0.7%) is due to the differing conceptual treatment of State and Federal construction grants by the PPI and CPI.

Other residential building construction fell 0.2%, driven by reduced margins to remain competitive in:

  • New South Wales (-1.0%).
  • South Australia (-0.2%).
  • Over the past twelve months Other residential building construction fell 0.7%. 

Non-residential construction rose 0.2%, driven by increased COVID-19 precautions and cleaning requirements:

  • Queensland (+1.3%).
  • Victoria (+0.8%).
  • Tasmania (+1.4%)

Over the past twelve months Non-residential building construction showed no change.

Heavy and civil engineering construction rose 0.3%, driven by:

  • Road and bridge construction rose 0.6%, due to increases in concrete prices.
  • Other heavy and civil engineering construction rose 0.2%, due to increases in polymer products and concrete prices.
  • Over the past twelve months Road and bridge construction fell 0.3% and Other heavy and civil engineering construction rose 0.9%.
  • Over the past twelve months Heavy and Civil engineering construction rose 0.7%.

Mining industries

Input to the coal mining industry

Input to the coal mining industry fell 0.3%, due to:

  • Petroleum and coal product manufacturing, driven by a fall in price after last quarters large increase, prices remain volatile.
  • Over the past twelve months Input to the coal mining industry fell 2.4%.

Output of the mining industry

Prices received for Gas extraction, domestic rose 4.2%, following increases in Asian LNG spot and global crude oil prices:

  • Domestic, East coast market rose 4.9%.
  • Domestic, Western Australia rose 1.1%.
  • Over the past twelve months Gas extraction, Domestic fell 7.4%.

Manufacturing

Input to the manufacturing industry

Input to the manufacturing industries rose 0.3%, due to:

  • Metal ore mining to manufacturing (+1.8%), due to increased industrial and construction demand for iron ore and copper in China.
  • Primary metal and metal product manufacturing (+1.9%), due to increased demand for aluminium by car manufacturing industries in China.
  • Agriculture to manufacturing (+0.5%), due to herd building of beef cattle under improved drought conditions.
  • Over the past twelve months Input to the manufacturing industries rose 1.1%.

Output of the manufacturing industry

Output of the manufacturing industries rose 0.3%, due to:

  • Copper, silver, lead and zinc smelting and refining (+8.6%), due to price increases for zinc, following increased demand for galvanised steel in China.
  • Aluminium smelting (+12.5%), due to increased demand for aluminium by car manufacturers in China.
  • Meat processing (+2.2%), due to decreased supply of beef cattle as producers restock herds.
  • Over the past twelve months Output of the Manufacturing industries fell 0.3%.

Services

Output of the service industries

Accommodation and food services rose, driven by: 

  • Accommodation services (+9.0%), due to increased demand from eased travel restrictions and the summer holiday season.
  • Cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services (+1.1%), due to increased demand from the eased travel restrictions on travel and group gatherings.
  • Over the past twelve months Accommodation services fell 9.8%.
  • Over the past twelve months Cafes, restaurant and takeaway food services rose 1.6%.

Transport, postal and warehousing industries rose, driven by: 

  • Road freight transport (+0.7%), due to increased demand, a rise in fuel prices and annual contract reviews.
  • Water freight transport (+9.7%), due to supply chain disruptions, peak season demand and shipping container shortages.
  • Over the past twelve months Road freight transport fell 1.2%.
  • Over the past twelve months Water freight transport rose 15.7%.

Rental, hiring and real estate services industries rose, driven by: 

  • Passenger Car Rental and Hiring (+25.4%), due to increased demand from eased travel restrictions and the summer holiday season, coupled with reduced supply of cars available for hiring.
  • Over the past twelve months Passenger Car Rental and Hiring rose 32.2%.

Offset by:

  • Non-residential property operators (-2.3%), due to increased sublease supply for office spaces and reduced demand for retail space.
  • Over the past twelve months Non-residential property operators prices fell 5.1%.

Health care and social assistance industries rose, driven by: 

  • Child care services (+7.8%), due to increased fees from childcare providers which followed the end of the Transition Payment subsidy.  To receive this subsidy, childcare providers were required to freeze fees. Annual fee increases, which usually occur at the start of the financial year, were instead applied this quarter.
  • Over the past twelve months Child care services rose 2.1%.

The Output of the other service industries rose, driven by:

  • Parking services (+5.0%), due to reinstated parking fees following price reductions in previous quarters as a result of COVID-19 restrictions.
  • Over the past twelve months Parking services fell 1.0%.

Data downloads

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Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 6427.0.

Using price indexes

Price indexes in contracts

Price indexes published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) provide summary measures of the movements in various categories of prices over time. They are published primarily for use in Government economic analysis. Price indexes are also often used in contracts by businesses and government to adjust payments and/or charges to take account of changes in categories of prices (Indexation Clauses).

Use of Price Indexes in Contracts sets out a range of issues that should be taken into account by parties considering including an Indexation Clause in a contract using an ABS published price index.

Changes in this release

There have been no changes to this quarter's release 

See the full history of changes.

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