producer prices in the manufacturing sector continued to ease in March this year, mainly driven by the lower prices of coke (solid fuel) and refined petroleum products, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said. PSA data released on Wednesday showed that the producer price index (PPI) for manufacturing posted an annual increase of 2.6 percent in March, a slowdown from the 3.6 percent increment recorded in the previous month. The PPI during the month was also lower than 5.4 percent in March last year. The PSA attributed the PPI's rise at a slower pace to the decline in the index of the manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products industry division at -0.4 percent from 4.2 percent in February. Other contributors include the slowdown in the annual growth of the manufacture of food products at 5.2 percent from 6.1 percent in February, and the 3.4 percent drop in basic metals. On the other hand, seven industry divisions recorded higher annual growth rates, led by beverages and furniture, which both grew by 5.9 percent. The PSA said month on month, PPI posted a decrement of -0.02 percent from -0.1 percent the previous month, mainly due to the lower monthly growth rate of the manufacture of other non-metallic mineral products. The PPI is generated from the results of the Producer Price Survey (PPS), which is conducted nationwide. The survey gathers monthly producer prices of selected products included in the market basket.
Source: Philippines News Agency
