2023-05-01 15:44:00
The producer price index for the “Manufacturing industries excluding oil refining” sector continued its upward trend at the end of March 2023, thus marking its third consecutive month of increase of the year.
According to figures published by the High Commission for Planning (HCP), it recorded an increase of 0.2% for the month of March compared to February 2023.
This development, which comes after jumps of 0.3% and 0.4% observed respectively in January and February of the same year, results from the 1.8% rise in prices for “Metallurgy”, “Food industries (0.2%), “Clothing Industry” and “Furniture Manufacturing” (0.8%), “Textile Industry” (0.5%) and ‘Chemical industry’, ‘Manufacture of rubber and plastic products’ and ‘Leather and footwear industry’ (0.1%).
In an information note relating to the index of industrial, energy and mining production prices for the month of March 2023, the High Commission explains that this trend is also linked to the drop in prices for “Manufacture of machinery and equipment” (2.3%) and “Manufacture of electrical equipment” and “Manufacture of computer products” (0.1%).
By way of comparison, during the month of February, the increase in the producer price index for the “Manufacturing industries excluding oil refining” sector (0.4%) was driven by the rise of 0. 7% of the prices of “Chemicals” and “Manufacture of beverages”, 2.1% of “Metallurgy”, 0.6% of “Manufacture of electrical equipment”.
This increase was also attributed to the rise of 0.2% in “Food industries”, 0.3% in “Automotive industry”, 9.8% in “Other manufacturing industries”, 0.4 % of the “Clothing industry” as well as 0.1% of the “Textile industry”.
In its previous information note, the public body – responsible for the production, analysis and publication of official statistics in Morocco – had also justified this increase by the 1.1% drop in the price of ” Manufacture of metal products” and 0.6% of “Manufacture of rubber and plastic products”.
To better appreciate the reasons for the evolution of this index during the first three months of the year, it should also be remembered that the increase recorded at the start of the year (January, 0.3%) resulted from the rise of 8.4 % of the prices of “Manufacture of tobacco products”, 0.9% of “Automotive industry” and “Manufacture of metal products”, 0.4% of “Chemical industry”, 0.2% of the “Food industry”, 0.8% of the “Clothing industry”, 0.6% of the “Textile industry” and 0.1% of the “ Manufacture of rubber and plastic products”.
In its information note at the time, the High Commission also explained this increase by the 1.4% drop in prices for “Metallurgy” and 0.2% for “Manufacture of electrical equipment”. .
Finally, as had been observed during the previous two months (January and February), it is important to note that the producer price indices for the “Extractive industries”, “Electricity production and distribution” sectors and “Water Production and Distribution” experienced stagnation during the month of March 2023, the public institution said in its recent information note.
Alain Bouithy
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