Factory gate prices ease in December

MANILA, Philippines — Factory gate prices’ growth eased in December from the previous month, due to slower increases in 15 industry divisions, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said.

Preliminary data released by the PSA yesterday showed the Producer Price Index (PPI) for manufacturing posted a 5.1 percent growth in December, slower than the 6.2 percent clip in November.

The PPI growth in December, however, was much faster compared to the 0.4 percent uptick in the same month in 2021.

“The slower year-on-year growth of PPI in December 2022 than its annual growth in November 2022 was primarily brought about by the slower annual upturns in the index of manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products industry division with 2.3 percent annual increase in December 2022, from 5.2 percent in November 2022,” the PSA said.

PSA said the manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products contributed 40.3 percent to the slower growth of the manufacturing sector in December last year.

Other industry divisions which registered slower annual growth in PPI in December are coke and refined petroleum products; transport equipment; food products; fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment; chemical and chemical products; basic metals; electrical equipment; beverages; wood, bamboo, cane, rattan articles and related products; wearing apparel; other non-metallic mineral products; printing and reproduction of recorded media; paper and paper products; and leather and related products including footwear.

Those which registered higher annual growth rates in December are rubber and plastic products; other manufacturing and repair and installation of machinery and equipment; furniture; and basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations.

For the index of manufacture of machinery and equipment except electrical, this registered an annual growth rate of 1.8 percent in December from an annual drop of 0.2 percent in the previous month.

Those with unchanged growth rates in December compared to November are textiles and tobacco products.

The PPI measures the changes in the producer price of key commodities in the manufacturing sector.

It is based on a nationwide survey covering producer prices of selected products in the market basket from sample establishments.

One of the PPI’s uses is as a deflator to derive the Volume of Production Index and Volume of Net Sales Index.