Factory gate prices slowed in December

MANILA, Philippines — Factory gate prices grew at a slower pace in December even as increments were recorded in the majority of industry groups, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said.

Latest data from the PSA showed that the Producer Price Index (PPI) for December went up by 0.6 percent, a slowdown from the 1.1 percent growth in November. In the same period in 2020, the index slipped by 3.7 percent.

This brought the PPI’s annual average in 2021 to a decline of 1.8 percent, slower than the 4.6 percent contraction in 2020.

The PPI pre-pandemic level stood at an average reduction of 2.3 percent.

The PSA attributed the upturn in December to the annual increases in the indexes of 15 industry groups led by the manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products which went up by 18.6 percent.

Other significant increments were also noted in the manufacture of basic metals, chemical and chemical products, rubber and plastic products, electrical equipment, and textiles.

Meanwhile, seven industry groups registered contractions in December, with wood, bamboo, cane, rattan articles and related products posting the biggest decline at 13 percent.

Others were computer, electronic and optical products, machinery and equipment, fabricated metal products, printing and reproduction of media, and furniture.

The PPI for manufacturing measures the changes in the producer price of key commodities produced by the sector. One of its uses is as a deflator to derive the Volume of Production Index and Volume of Net Sales Index.