Note:
25/01/2008 Table 47 - June quarter 2007 data was inadvertently omitted from the December quarter 2007 spreadsheet. The data has now been restored.
11:30 am 22 January 2008 - The summary commentary has been replaced with the correct December 2007 information.
DECEMBER KEY FIGURES
 | Sep Qtr 07 to Dec Qtr 07 | Dec Qtr 06 to Dec Qtr 07 |
| STAGE OF PRODUCTION | % change | % change |
|
| Final (Stage 3) commodities (excl. exports) | 0.6 | 2.8 |
| Domestic | 0.9 | 4.2 |
| Imports | -1.4 | -5.4 |
| Intermediate (Stage 2) commodities | 1.1 | 4.3 |
| Domestic | 1.1 | 4.8 |
| Imports | 0.6 | 0.4 |
| Preliminary (Stage 1) commodities | 1.5 | 4.7 |
| Domestic | 1.4 | 4.7 |
| Imports | 2.2 | 4.7 |
|
Final Stage, Base: 1998-99 = 100.0
| Final Stage, Quarterly % change
|
DECEMBER KEY POINTS
FINAL (STAGE 3) COMMODITIES
- rose by 0.6% in the December quarter 2007.
- mainly due to price increases in building construction (+1.4%) and petroleum refining (+12.8%)
- partially offset by price falls in other agriculture (-19.4%) and electronic equipment manufacturing (-7.2%)
- increased by 2.8% through the year to December 2007
INTERMEDIATE (STAGE 2) COMMODITIES
- increased by 1.1% in the December quarter 2007
- mainly due to price increases in petroleum refining (+12.0%), oil and gas extraction (+11.0%) and property operators and developers (+3.1%)
- partially offset by price decreases in basic non-ferrous metal manufacturing (-10.0%) and other agriculture (-3.3%)
- increased by 4.3% through the year to December 2007
PRELIMINARY (STAGE 1) COMMODITIES
- rose by 1.5% in the December quarter 2007
- mainly due to price increases in oil and gas extraction (+11.0%), petroleum refining (+12.1%) and property operators and developers (+3.1%)
- partially offset by price falls in basic non-ferrous metal manufacturing (-10.0%) and iron and steel manufacturing (-2.3%)
- through the year to December 2007 the index rose by 4.7%
NOTES
FORTHCOMING ISSUES
| ISSUE (QUARTER) | Release Date |
| March 2008 | 21 April 2008 |
| June 2008 | 21 July 2008 |
ROUNDING
Any discrepancies between totals and sums of components in this publication are due to rounding.
CHANGES IN THIS ISSUE
Price indexes for the output of the general construction industry (tables 15 and 16) have been compiled with an updated weighting pattern in the December quarter 2007. For more information refer to paragraph 59 of the explanatory notes and to Information paper - Changes to the Weights of the Price Indexes for the Output of the General Construction Industry, Australia, 2008 (cat. no. 6406.0)
FORTHCOMING CHANGES
December quarter 2007 is the last quarter that the ABS will publish tables for the Price Index of Materials Used in Building Other than House Building (Tables 19 and 20). The ABS ceased to produce this index after June quarter 2004. As a consequence there will be some renumbering of tables in this publication from the March quarter 2008.
Historical versions of the tables continue to be available on the ABS website, including a longer term historical series published in the December quarter 2004 issue of this publication.
December quarter 2007 is also the last quarter that the ABS will produce the index series: Table 48, Materials used in Building Other Than House Building Special Series, Index Numbers - Perth. Table 48 was only available on the ABS website. Historical versions of the table will continue to be available on the website.
Queries can be directed to Lee Taylor on Canberra (02) 6252 6251, or email <lee.taylor@abs.gov.au>.
DATA REFERENCES
Data referenced in the Key points and Commentary are available from the tables shown in this publication, or in the corresponding tables of this publication on the ABS website <https://www.abs.gov.au>.
RELATED STATISTICS
For more information about statistics in this publication contact Lee Taylor on Canberra (02) 6252 6251, or email <lee.taylor@abs.gov.au>.
INQUIRIES
For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070 or Lee Taylor on Canberra (02) 6252 6251.
SUMMARY COMMENTARY
STAGE OF PRODUCTION (SOP) OVERVIEW
In December quarter 2007, each of the three stages of production indexes recorded increases. The final (stage 3) index recorded a 0.6% in the December quarter 2007. The intermediate (Stage 2) index also increased by 1.1% with an increase of 1.5% for the preliminary (Stage 1) index. Through the year to December quarter 2007, the final (Stage 3) index increased by 2.8%, the intermediate (Stage 2) increased by 4.3% and the preliminary (Stage 1) index increased by 4.7%.
The increase in the final (Stage 3) index reflects a rise of 0.9% in the price of domestically produced items, partially offset by a fall of 1.4% in the price of imported items. The domestic component increased due to price rises for building construction (+1.4%), petroleum refining (+12.3%) and dairy product manufacturing (+7.8%). These increases were partially offset by price falls for other agriculture (-19.4%). The imports component decreased due to price falls for electronic equipment (-7.9%) and other transport manufacturing (-5.2%), partially offset by price rises in petroleum refining (+17.1%).
The increase of 1.1% in the intermediate (Stage 2) index reflects an increase of 1.1% in the price of domestically produced items and a rise of 0.6% in the price of imported items. The domestic component increased due to price rises for petroleum refining (+11.8%) and property operators and developers (+3.1%) and oil and gas extraction (+11.8%), partially offset by price falls in basic non-ferrous metal manufacturing (-10.4%). The imports component increased due to price rises for oil and gas extraction (+10.3%) and petroleum refining (+12.7%), partially offset by price decreases for iron and steel manufacturing (-8.8%) and electronic equipment manufacturing (-6.5%).
The increase of 1.5% in the preliminary (Stage 1) index reflects a rise of 1.4% in the price of domestically produced items and an increase of 2.2% in the price of imported items. The domestic component increased due to price rises for petroleum refining (+11.8%) and oil and gas extraction (+11.8%), partially offset by price decreases in basic non-ferrous metal manufacturing (-10.4%). The imports component increased due to price rises for oil and gas extraction (+10.3%) and petroleum refining (+13.5%), which were partially offset by price falls for iron and steel manufacturing (-8.5%) and electronic equipment manufacturing (-6.5%).
COMPARISON OF SOP INDEXES: Base: 1998-99 = 100.0
MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES PRODUCER PRICE INDEXES
During the December quarter 2007, the prices paid by manufacturers for material inputs increased by 3.6%, while the prices they received for their outputs increased by 1.6%. Through the year to December quarter 2007, prices of material inputs increased by 7.9%, while prices for their outputs rose 3.4%.
Price rises for products from oil and gas extraction (+14.2%) and metal ore mining (+4.4%) drove the rise in the cost of materials used in the manufacturing industries. Major contributors to these price increases were crude oil, gold and iron ores. Price decreases for products from iron and steel manufacturing (-5.5%), grain, sheep and beef farming (-0.6%) and textile, fibre and woven fabrics (-3.0%) provided offsets to the price increases. The decrease in prices paid for grain, sheep and beef farming was mainly driven by price falls in cattle and calves, offset by strong price rises in wheat.
The increase in prices received for articles produced by manufacturing industries was mainly due to rises in the price of outputs from petroleum refining (+13.2%) - driven by diesel and unleaded petrol, dairy product manufacturing (+10.5%) - driven by butter, cheese and milk based foods, and other food manufacturing (+2.9%) - driven by prepared animal and bird feed manufacturing. These increases were partly offset by decreases in the prices received for outputs from basic non-ferrous metal manufacturing (-11.5%), in particular recovery of nickel, copper and zinc and aluminium smelting. Non-ferrous basic metal product manufacturing also decreased (-14.5%) due to price falls for aluminium and copper bars and rods.
MATERIALS USED IN MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES, All groups: Quarterly % change
ARTICLES PRODUCED BY MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES, All Groups: Quarterly % change
CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRIES PRODUCER PRICE INDEXES
The price index for materials used in house building rose by 0.9% in the December quarter 2007. This follows consecutive price increases of 0.6% in the June quarter 2007 and 0.9% in the September quarter 2007. The largest contributors to the increase this quarter were price rises for timber, board and joinery (+1.9%), other metal products (+0.8%) and concrete, cement and sand (+1.4%). These price increases were partially offset by falls in prices paid for electrical equipment (-2.3%) and cement products (-0.3%).
Brisbane (+1.5%) contributed the most to the overall weighted average of six capital cities quarterly movement. Increases were recorded for all the state capitals.
Through the year to December quarter 2007, the materials used in house building price index rose by 2.9%. This rise was mainly attributed to increases of prices paid for timber, board and joinery (+4.2%) and other metal products (+2.5%).
MATERIALS USED IN HOUSE BUILDING, All groups: Quarterly % change
The price index for the output of the general construction industry increased by 1.4% in the December quarter 2007, and by 5.2% through the year to December quarter 2007. Increases were registered in the quarter for all component indexes. The largest contributor this quarter was the index for house construction (+1.5%), followed by non-residential building construction (+1.3%), other residential building construction (+1.1%) and road and bridge construction (+1.7%).
Victoria (+1.7%) and Queensland (+1.9%) made the largest contributions to the quarterly movement of the price index of the general construction industry. The results for these states were driven by increases in house construction prices. Non-residential building construction was also a significant contributor in Victoria. New South Wales (+0.9%) and Western Australia (+1.5%) were the next strongest contributors due to increases in non-residential building construction.
output of the general construction industry, All groups: Quarterly % change
SERVICE INDUSTRIES PRODUCER PRICE INDEXES
The property and business services industries price index increased by 1.4% in the December quarter 2007, and by 6.1% through the year to December quarter 2007.
The property services index increased by 3.0% in the December quarter 2007, and by 10.6% through the year to December 2007. The main contributors to the increase were prices received for the services of commercial property operators and developers (+3.1%) and real estate agents (+4.0%). The business services index increased by 0.5% in the December quarter 2007 and by 3.2% through the year to December 2007. The main contributors to the increase were from the outputs of advertising services (+3.3%), computer consultancy services (+0.9%) and contract staff services (+1.5%). These increases were partially offset by a decrease in business management services (-1.2%).
PROPERTY AND BUSINESS SERVICES INDUSTRIES, All groups: Quarterly % change
The transport (freight) and storage industries index increased by 0.6% in the December quarter 2007, and by 1.4% through the year to December quarter 2007. The most significant contributors to the increase were in prices received for road freight transport (+0.8%), rail transport (+2.1%), grain storage (+6.4%), and coastal water transport (+4.3%). These increases were largely offset by decreases in scheduled international air transport (-3.7%).
TRANSPORT (FREIGHT) AND STORAGE INDUSTRIES, All groups: Quarterly % change
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