Hong Kong’s fourth quarter industrial indices up

Industrial production for manufacturing industries as a whole increased 3.5% in the first quarter while producer price index surged 8.2% in the same period.

The index of industrial production for manufacturing industries as a whole increased 3.5% in the first quarter over a year earlier, following a 5.7% year-on-year increase in the fourth quarter of 2010.

According to provisional figures released by the Census & Statistics Department on Monday, the producer price index rose 8.2% in the first quarter over a year earlier, following a 7.6% year-on-year increase in the fourth quarter of 2010.

The index of industrial production for sewerage, waste management and remediation activities rose 10% in the first quarter, following a 5.8 % year-on-year increase in the fourth quarter of 2010. The corresponding producer price index was up 6.8% in the first quarter over a year earlier, following a 6.3% year-on-year increase in the fourth quarter of 2010.

Indices of industrial production reflect changes in the volume of local industrial output after discounting the effect of price changes.

Comparing the first quarter with a year earlier, the food, beverages and tobacco industry had the biggest rise in output volume (+6.8%), followed by the metal, computer, electronic and optical products, machinery and equipment industry (+5.3%), and the paper products, printing and reproduction of recorded media industry (+2.9%).

Falls in output volume were recorded in the textiles industry (-11.2%) and the wearing apparel industry (-5.3%).

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the index of industrial production for manufacturing industries as a whole rose 0.9%.

Compared with the same time last year, the first quarter recorded rises in producer prices for all industry groups. The metal, computer, electronic and optical products, machinery and equipment industry had the largest increase in producer prices (+12.2%), followed by the textiles industry (+8.5%), the food, beverages and tobacco industry (+4.2%), the paper products, printing and reproduction of recorded media industry (+3.5%), and the wearing apparel industry (+1.4%).