Producer prices continue to soar in Jamaica aided and abetted by the hike in raw materials and higher shipping costs.

For the month of February, the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) has assessed that prices in the manufacturing industry increased by 3.1 per cent.

The main contributors to the increase in the index for the manufacturing industry were the major groups, ‘Refined Petroleum Products’ up by 9.3 per cent; ‘Food, Beverages & Tobacco’ moved up by 1.7 per cent and ‘Other Non-Metallic Mineral Products,’ increased 6.9 per cent.

STATIN reports that, “this industry continued to be adversely affected by higher costs for shipping and for raw materials on the international market.” The point-to-point index for the manufacturing industry moved up by 22.2 per cent.

Marginal increase in prices in the mining and quarrying industry

Output prices for producers in the ‘Mining and Quarrying’ industry increased by 0.5 per cent based on data released yesterday by STATIN. The movement in the index for the mining and quarrying industry was mainly attributed to a 0.6 per cent rise in the index for the major group ‘Bauxite Mining & Alumina Processing’.

The index for the other major group ‘Other Mining & Quarrying’ moved upward by 0.1 per cent. For the period February 2021 to February 2022, the mining & quarrying industry rose by 39.9 per cent. This was due mainly to an increase of 41.2 per cent in the index for the major group ‘Bauxite Mining & Alumina Processing’.

For the 2021/2022 fiscal year-to-date, April 2021 to February 2022, the index for the mining & quarrying industry increased by 37.0 per cent, while the index for the manufacturing industry advanced by 18.4 per cent.