The Sultanate of Oman producer price index (PPI)-based inflation rose by 14.9 per cent in the third quarter of 2021, over the same period of last year, mainly driven by a surge in Non – Oil Products, according to the latest statistics released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).
Prices of Non – Oil Products increased by 16.3 per cent, while the prices of Oil & Gas Products rose by 14.6 per cent in the third quarter of 2021, over the same period of the previous year. In the Oil & Gas Products group, Refined Oil Products shot up by 41.0 per cent, while the prices of Crude Oil and Natural Gas soared by 11.0 per cent in the third quarter of 2021, over the same period of the previous year.
Among the non-oil group, the prices of the Manufacturing group rose by 21.1 per cent in the third quarter.
The prices of the mining, electricity and water group rose also by 0.9 percent. Among the different sub-groups in the manufacturing group, the prices of most of the product groups rose at varying degrees. Metal Products, Machinery and Equipment recorded an increase of 39.9 per cent and Transportable Goods by 16.1 per cent, while producer prices of the Food, Beverages and Textile Products group increased by 11.7 per cent.
Among Food, Beverages and Textile Products, the price of Fish, Fruit, Vegetables and Oils rose by 27.5 per cent, Dairy Products by 8.8 per cent, the NCSI report added.
In another group of transportable goods, the producer price index of Chemical Products increased by 36.2 percent, Rubber and Plastic Products by 6.6 percent and Anti-Melted Metal Waste products by 6.1 percent, while Glass, Cement and Marble Products decreased by 1.1 percent, according to the NCSI report.
The price index of Raw and Products of Iron, Steel or Aluminum soared by as much as 48.2 per cent, mainly driven by a growth in the prices of Power Transformers, electricity, distribution apparatus and cables by 45.2 per cent, while prices of Fabricated Products of Iron, Steel or Aluminum rose by 19.9 per cent.