The final demand producer price index in Australia increased by 0.8 percent quarter-on-quarter in the three months to September of 2018, following a 0.3 percent rise in the previous period and beating market consensus of 0.2 percent. It was the steepest increase in producer prices since the September quarter of 2015, mainly driven by prices received for heavy and civil engineering construction (1.0 percent); petroleum refining and petroleum fuel manufacturing (5.2 percent); and computer and electronic equipment manufacturing (2.7 percent). Partly offsetting this rise was falls in the prices received for cleaning compound and toiletry preparation manufacturing (-3.1 percent). Through the year to the third quarter of 2018, producer prices rose by 2.1 percent. Producer Prices in Australia averaged 91.06 Index Points from 1998 until 2018, reaching an all time high of 109.40 Index Points in the second quarter of 2018 and a record low of 70.70 Index Points in the first quarter of 1999.
Producer Prices in Australia is expected to be 110.38 Index Points by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Producer Prices in Australia to stand at 111.83 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the Australia Producer Prices is projected to trend around 114.57 Index Points in 2020, according to our econometric models.