According to the latest data released by Statistics South Africa, in January this year the country's producer price index (PPI) for exported commodities decreased by 0.3 percent year on year and was up 2.5 percent compared to the previous month.
In January, basic metals was both the main contributor to the annual rate for exported commodities and to the month-on-month increase, with a year-on-year decrease of 4.8 percent and a month-on-month rise of 4.5 percent.
The PPI for exported basic iron and steel in South Africa in January this year rose 1.3 percent compared to the previous month and was down 10.3 percent compared to January 2012, while the PPI for exported metal products increased by 2.3 percent over the previous month and was up 6.3 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 0.3 percent over the previous month and was up 2.1 percent year on year.
