Wholesale prices further rise in November

MANILA, Philippines — Wholesale prices of consumer goods accelerated further in November, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said.

The General Wholesale Price Index (GWPI) in the Philippines in November accelerated to 4.2 percent, faster than the 3.9 percent expansion in October.

The latest figure is also faster than the growth of 2.3 percent in November 2020.

The index of mineral fuels, lubricants, and related materials registered the highest increase at 34.2 percent, its biggest jump so far for 2021.

This was followed by the index of crude materials at 17.3 percent, registering the sharpest drop last year.

Wholesale prices for food also picked up to a nine-month high of 2.7 percent.

Mark-ups were also higher in the indexes of beverages and tobacco and machinery and transport equipment.

Chemicals, including animal and vegetable oils and fats, on the other hand, slowed to 3.8 percent. Manufactured goods classified chiefly by materials and miscellaneous manufactured articles retained their levels at 6.4 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively.

Following the trend at the national level, the GWPI in Luzon also spiked to 4.3 percent from 4.1 percent. Mineral fuels, lubricants, and related materials are now the cause of upticks at 36.7 percent, its highest for the year.

Visayas also saw its wholesale prices surge to 1.4 percent while Mindanao registered a slight increase to five percent.