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
March 2020
Released
1/05/2020

Key statistics

Final demand (excluding exports):

  • rose 0.2% this quarter; and
  • rose 1.3% over the 12 months to March 2020 quarter.

Main features

Final demand (excluding exports)

  • rises in other agriculture (+11.2%), tertiary education (+1.6%) and electricity supply; gas supply; and water supply, sewerage and drainage services (+1.1%)
  • falls in petroleum refining and petroleum fuel manufacturing (-14.1%) and accommodation (-5.6%).
     

Key figures

 Dec 19 Qtr to Mar 20 QtrMar 19 Qtr to Mar 20 Qtr
Final demand% change% change
Final demand (excl. exports)0.21.3

Index reference period: 2011-12 - 100.0

Changes in this issue

The March quarter 2020 issue of the Producer Price Indexes includes re-weighted price indexes for:

  • 3101 Road and bridge construction.
  • 3109 Other heavy and civil engineering construction.
     

Rounding

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

Use of 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.

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.

The Retail Trade Margins Survey, which collects data for this index was paused after despatch and every effort was made to contact respondents to inform them that the data was no longer required. The response rate for the March 2020 quarter of the Retail Trade Margin Survey was 2.6%.

Quarterly changes to industries

Construction industries

Input to the house construction industry rose 0.3% this quarter, due to:

General price rises for:

  • Electrical equipment (+4.1%).
  • Timber, board and joinery (+0.3%).
     

Offset by:

  • Steel products (-1.5%).
  • Installed gas and electrical appliance (-0.5%).
     

The main contributing capital cities reflect a weakening housing market with subdued increases:

  • Perth (+0.8%), due to structural hardwood and electric cable and conduit.
  • Brisbane (+0.4%), due to electric cable and conduit and terracotta tiles.
  • Melbourne (+0.3%), due to plaster products and structural hardwood.
     

Over the twelve months to March 2020 quarter Inputs to House construction rose 0.8%, due to rises in prices for:

  • Other materials (+2.2%).
  • Electrical equipment (+5.7%).
  • Plumbing products (+2.7%).
     

Output of the construction industries:

Subdivision 30 - Building construction showed 0.0% this quarter and rose 0.6% over the last twelve months.

Class 3011 - House construction (+0.6%), driven by:

  • New South Wales (+1.6%), due to easing bonus offers and increasing input costs.
  • Victoria (+0.6%), due to increasing input costs.
  • Western Australia (+1.2%), due to easing bonus offers and increasing base prices.
  • Over the last twelve months to March 2020 quarter House construction rose 0.4%.
     

Class 3019 - Other residential building construction fell 0.4%, driven by:

  • New South Wales (-0.9%), due to increased competition in the market from reduced construction volumes.
  • Over the last twelve months to March 2020 quarter Other residential building construction rose 0.7%.
     

Class 3020 - Non-residential construction fell 0.3%, driven by:

  • New South Wales (-0.7%), due to competitive discounting.
  • Over the last twelve months to March 2020 quarter Non-residential building construction rose 0.7%.
     

Subdivision 31 - Heavy and civil engineering construction rose 0.2%, due to increases in labour and pass through of input cost pressures. Driven by:

  • Class 3109 - Other heavy and civil engineering construction (+0.3%).
  • Class 3101 - Road and bridge construction (-0.3%).
  • Over the last twelve months to March 2020 quarter Other heavy and civil engineering construction rose 1.7% and Road and bridge construction rose 0.8%.
  • Over the last twelve months to March 2020 quarter Subdivision 31 - Heavy and Civil engineering construction rose 1.5%.
     

Mining industries

Input to the coal mining industry rose 0.1% this quarter

    • Over the last twelve months to March 2020 quarter Input to the coal mining industry rose 1.5%.
       

    Output of the mining industries

    Prices received for Gas extraction, Domestic rose 4.0%, due to:

    • Domestic, East coast market rose 4.7%, due to demand and global crude oil prices.
    • Domestic, Western Australia rose 0.6%, due to strong supply and global crude oil prices.
    • Over the last twelve months to March 2019 quarter Gas extraction, Domestic rose 5.3%.
       

    ​​​​​​​Manufacturing industries

    Input to the manufacturing industries rose 1.5% this quarter, due to:

    • Metal ore mining manufacturing (+6.2%), due to rising gold prices driven by economic uncertainty.
    • Agriculture to manufacturing (+5.2%), due to seasonal increases in farmgate milk prices. Drought conditions continue to impact supplies.
    • Food product manufacturing (+6.7%), due to gelatine driven by increases in raw materials and demand.
    • Over the last twelve months to March 2020 quarter Input to the Manufacturing industries rose 4.6%.
       

    Output of the manufacturing industries rose 0.8% this quarter, due to:

    • Basic non-ferrous metal manufacturing (+9.3%), due to rising gold prices driven by economic uncertainty.
    • Meat processing (+3.0%), due to rises in beef prices as a result of strong demand.
    • Sugar manufacturing (+12.5%), due to rises in international sugar prices.
    • Over the last twelve months to March 2020 quarter Output of the Manufacturing industries rose 3.2%.
       

    Services industries

    Output of the services industries

    Accommodation and food services fell, driven by prices received for:

    • Group 440 - Accommodation services (-10.1%), due to reduced demand from bushfires and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
       

    Transport, postal and warehousing industries rose, driven by prices received for:

    • Group 510 - Postal and courier pick-up and delivery services (+1.2%), due to bi-annual price reviews.
    • Group 461 - Road freight transport (+0.2%), due to increased demand, fuel prices and contract renewals.
       

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

    • Class 6712 - Non-residential property operators (+0.7%), due to rises in the NSW and QLD industrial and office property rental markets.
    • Group 672 - Real estate services (+0.6%), due to strength in capital city housing markets.
    • Class 6611 - Passenger car rental and hiring (+3.0%), due to increased demand from school holidays in January and the Formula 1 in March.
       

    Professional, scientific and technical services industries rose, driven by prices received for:

    • Group 692 - Architectural, engineering and technical services (+0.2%), due to annual rate reviews.
    • Class 6962 - Management advice and related consulting services (+0.4%), due to rising input costs and wages.
    • Group 693 - Legal & accounting Services (+0.3%), primarily driven by small to medium accounting firms.
       

    Education and training services rose, driven by prices received for:

    • Class 8102 - Higher education (+2.5%), due to price rises for resident (+1.9%) and non-resident (+4.3%) tertiary education services.
       

    Data downloads - time series spreadsheets

    Table 1. Final demand, index numbers and percentage changes

    Table 11. Input to the coal mining industry, index numbers and percentage changes

    Table 12. Output of the manufacturing industries, division, subdivision, group and class index numbers

    Table 13. Input to the manufacturing industries, division and selected industries, index numbers and percentage changes

    Table 14. Input to the manufacturing industries, subdivision index numbers

    Table 17. Output of the construction industries, subdivision and class index numbers

    Table 18. Input to the house construction industry, six state capital cities, weighted average and city, index numbers and percentage changes

    Table 20. Output of the accommodation and food services industries, group index numbers

    Table 21. Output of the transport, postal and warehousing industries, group and class index numbers

    Table 22. Output of the information media and telecommunications industries, group and class index numbers

    Table 23. Output of the rental, hiring and real estate services industries, subdivision, group and class index numbers

    Table 24. Output of the professional, scientific and technical services industries, group and class index numbers

    Table 25. Output of the administrative and support services industries, group and class index numbers

    Table 26. Output of the public administration and safety industries, group and class index numbers

    Table 27. Output of the other services industries, group and class index numbers

    Table 34. Output of the education and training industries, group and class index numbers

    Table 35. Output of the health care and social assistance industries, group and class index numbers

    Table 36. Output of the mining industries, index numbers

    Data downloads - data cubes

    Table 5 Final demand: contribution to final demand index by industry - index points

    Table 28 Contribution to input to the manufacturing industries index, subdivision and index points

    Table 29 Contribution to output of the manufacturing industries index, group index points

    Table 30 Contribution to input to the house construction industry index, weighted average of six state capital cities, index points

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