Wholesale price hikes ease in Oct, says NSO

MANILA, Philippines - Wholesale prices of goods eased in October due to reduced prices of crude materials and slower increases in food prices, the National Statistics Office (NSO) said.

The statistics agency said in a report the annual movement of the General Wholesale Price Index (GWPI) at the national level went up at a slower pace of 1.2 percent in October from 2.2 percent in September.

“It resulted from a drop in the crude materials, inedible except fuels index at -16.7 percent in October from -14.7 percent in September,” the NSO said.

Wholesale prices likewise eased due to a slower annual growth in the heavily-weighted food index at 0.9 percent from 4.1 percent.

Meanwhile, prices of other commodity groups picked up at faster rates such as manufactured goods classified chiefly by materials index which increased to 2.2 percent from 2.1 percent and miscellaneous manufactured articles index, which rose to 1.7 percent from 1.6 percent.

The GWPI, which measures the changes in price levels of commodities that flow in to wholesale trade intermediaries, is used as basis for price adjustments in business contracts and projects.

The NSO noted that wholesale prices of items in Luzon likewise posted slower annual growth as its GWPI eased to 1.4 percent in October from 2.5 percent in September.

This was due to a decline of 19.7 percent in the index of crude materials, inedible except fuels from -17.5 percent.

A slower annual uptick was also seen in the food index at 1.5 percent from five percent.

In the Visayas, the GWPI moved at a slower 1.1 percent from 1.4 percent.

The NSO attributed the easing of wholesale prices to the manufactured goods classified chiefly by materials index which was still negative at -0.2 percent from -0.4 percent.

It also cited slowdowns in the following indices: food (0.9 percent from 1.5 percent); crude materials, inedible except fuels (5.4 percent from 8.2 percent); and mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials (2.8 percent from 2.9 percent).

Wholesale prices likewise eased in Mindanao as the GWPI’s annual uptick slid to 0.2 percent in October from 1.3 percent in September.

The NSO said Mindanao’s GWPI picked up at a slower pace as the food index went down by 3.1 percent from -0.3 percent.

Slower upticks were also seen in mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials index at 1.1 percent from 1.2 percent and machinery and transport equipment index, at 0.4 percent from 0.5 percent.