Wholesale prices increase at slower pace in May

MANILA, Philippines - Wholesale prices of goods in the country went up at a slower pace in May as prices of crude materials and chemicals declined and as prices of most commodities had slower increases, the National Statistics Office (NSO) said.

The NSO reported the General Wholesale Price Index (GWPI) at the national level rose year-on-year 0.3 percent in May from 0.6 percent in April.

“Continuous annual declines were noted in the indices of crude materials, inedible except fuels at -29.6 percent in May from -26.2 percent in April and chemicals, including animal and vegetable oils and fats, -5.7 percent from -5.1 percent,” it said.

It noted that slower annual increases were seen in the price indices of food; beverages and tobacco; mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials; manufactured goods classified chiefly by materials; and miscellaneous manufactured articles.

The machinery and transport equipment index, meanwhile accelerated year-on-year to 2.1 percent in May from 0.7 percent in April.

The NSO said the GWPI in Luzon eased year-on-year to 0.2 percent in May from 0.6 percent in the previous month mostly due to lower prices of crude materials and chemicals.

The price index of crude materials in Luzon dropped further by -31.3 percent in May from the previous month’s -27.5 percent, while the price index of chemicals fell further to -7.8 percent from -7.1 percent.

The NSO noted the annual downward movement was still seen in the wholesale prices of commodities in Visayas at -0.5 percent in May from -0.6 percent in April.

The NSO said the annual downward movement in the GWPI of Visayas was due to the year-on-year decline in the prices of food, crude materials and miscellaneous manufactured articles.

In Mindanao, the GWPI rose year-on-year at a slower 1.2 percent in May from two percent in April.

The NSO attributed the downward trend in the GWPI in Mindanao to the negative annual rates in the food index and crude materials.

“Deceleration in the annual increments were also recorded in all the other commodity groups,” it said further.

On a month-on-month basis, the country’s GWPI went down further to -1.5 percent in May from -0.5 percent in April on the back of lower prices of food, crude materials, mineral fuels and chemicals.