According to the latest data released on May 31 by Statistics South Africa, in April this year the country's producer price index (PPI) for the manufacturing industry in general fell by 0.1 percent over the previous month and was up 4.6 percent year on year.
In April, South African PPI for the domestic basic iron and steel industry was down 5.3 percent compared to March this year and down 6.1 percent compared to April last year. On the other hand, in April this year the PPI for domestic manufacture of metal products increased by 0.5 percent over the previous month and was up 7.7 percent year on year.
The PPI for exported basic iron and steel in South Africa fell 5.2 percent compared to the same month of the previous year and was down 4.1 percent compared to March 2011, while the PPI for exported metal products decreased by 1.1 percent over the previous month and was up 6.6 percent year on year.
Meanwhile, in South Africa the PPI for imported basic iron and steel remained stable on both year-on-year and month-on-month basis, while the PPI for imported metal products increased by 0.1 percent over the previous month and was down six percent year on year.