IDEX Polished Price Index Keeps Sliding in September
October 05, 25
(IDEX Online) - The IDEX Polished Price Index was down 2.08 per cent in September, after a brief spike ahead of the US doubling of Indian tariffs.
It follows a dip of 0.99 per cent in August, another month with a tariff-related spike (the introduction of reciprocal tariffs on 7 August).
Prices also spiked at the end of June, ahead of the 9 July deadline for US trading partners to negotiate deals, and in early April when US president Donald Trump first announced the tariffs. In July, the Index fell by 3.26 per cent.
The overall trend remains downwards, as it has been for the last three years. It closes September at 88.13, compared to its March 2022 post-Covid peak of 158.39 - a drop of just over 44 per cent.
Prices are volatile. Month-to-month prices fell 1.9 per cent in September after a marginal increase in August (+0.3 per cent) a significant fall in July (-2.5 per cent) and a modest fall in June (-0.8 per cent). Month-to-month prices have risen only five times in the last 41 months, from March 2022.
Year-to-year prices again show some signs of stability, down by 8.1 per cent in September after an 8.3 per cent drop the previous month. There's been negative growth since December 2022, but in the last seven months the trend has been towards slightly smaller losses with each passing month.
Prices fell for all goods shown below, except for 4.0-cts in September. The weighted average M/M was down 1.9 per cent, compared to 0.3 per cent rise in August. Losses were heaviest among 0.5-cts and 5.0-cts, and 1.0-cts were down 3.0 per cent, compared to a 0.8 per cent increase in August.
Year-on-year prices in September largely mirrored those of August, with the biggest drops among the smallest goods (0.50-cts, 1.0-cts). Losses among 2.0-cts to 4.0-cts were slightly less than the previous month.
The overall trend remains downwards, although there was a light increase among 4.0-cts during September.
