Factory gate prices fall in April

MANILA, Philippines — Factory gate prices declined at a slower pace in April, with majority of industry groups still reporting price contractions, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said.

Latest data from PSA showed that the Producer Price Index (PPI) for April declined three percent, trailing the 3.4 percent contraction level in March and much slower than the five percent decline in April 2020.

The PSA attributed the decline to the negative growth rates in the indexes of 15 industry groups led by computer, electronic and optical products which went down 17.5 percent.

Other significant drops were also noted in the manufacture of wearing apparel, machinery and equipment except electrical, fabricated metal products, and furniture.

Meanwhile, only six industry groups registered growth in April, with coke and refined petroleum products posting the fastest increase at 11.6 percent.

Others were basic metals, food products, beverages, rubber and plastic products, and textiles.

The PPI for manufacturing measures the changes in the producer price of key commodities produced by the sector. It is used as a deflator to derive the indexes in the volume of production and net sales.