South Africa's annual headline producer price inflation was 6.7% in September 2013, the same rate as in August, Statistics South Africa said. The main contributor to the September producer inflation was the group of foods, beverages and tobacco products, whose prices rose 6.1% y/y and contributed 2.1pps to the producer price index (PPI). Next, the prices of coke, petroleum, chemical, rubber and plastic products grew 7.4% y/y and contributed 1.3pps to the PPI.

On a monthly basis, the headline producer price inflation was 0.4% last month, down from 0.8% in August.

Producer prices are a key preliminary indicator for the dynamics in consumer price inflation. Producer prices in South Africa have increased significantly in the last four months despite the general decline in global commodities prices as a weakening rand pushes up costs of imports.

As of January 2013, the statistics office releases five separate industry-specific producer price indices (PPI), with final manufactured goods representing the headline number. The other four PPIs cover agriculture forestry and fishing; mining and quarrying; electricity and water; and intermediate manufactured goods.

The annual change in the PPI for intermediate manufactured goods was 7.9% in September, down from 11.1% in August. The producer prices for electricity and water rose 12.9% y/y last month, up from 3.6% y/y in August. The annual growth in the mining PPI slowed to 4.1% last month from 10.4% in August. The annual growth of the PPI for agriculture, forestry and fishing accelerated to 4.5% in September from 3.5% in August.