Factory gate prices decline in October

MANILA, Philippines — Factory gate prices declined in October due to the contraction in the indexes of most industry groups, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported yesterday.

The Producer Price Index (PPI) for manufacturing registered a negative 0.4 percent growth in October from the 0.2 percent growth in September and 1.2 percent rise in October 2018.

PSA attributed the decline to the contraction in the factory gate prices in 13 major industry groups, with the largest declines seen for leather products (-20.2 percent), footwear and wearing apparel (-11.5 percent), and fabricated metal products (-11.2 percent).

Other industry groups that registered annual declines in the growth of factory gate prices in October were: food manufacturing, petroleum products, electrical machinery, transport equipment, chemical products, basic metals, machinery except electrical, wood and wood products, textiles, as well as paper and paper products.

Annual gains in factory gate prices, meanwhile, were seen in six industry groups, with the highest seen for furniture and fixtures at 59.8 percent.

Other industry groups that registered annual gains were beverages, tobacco products, rubber and plastic products, non-metallic mineral products, miscellaneous manufactures.

The index for printing registered flat growth annually.

Month-on-month, the PPI registered a negative 0.7 percent growth in October, a faster decline compared with negative 0.6 percent in September and negative 0.1 percent October 2018.

Growth in factory gate prices month-on-month were seen in rubber and plastic products, as well as in wood and wood products.

Declines were seen in petroleum products, machinery except electrical, electrical machinery, transport equipment, leather products, basic metals, chemical products, food manufacturing, miscellaneous manufactures, non-metallic mineral products, footwear and wearing apparel, fabricated metal products, paper and paper products, furniture and fixtures, tobacco products, as well as textiles.