Factory prices posted steepest drop in Sept. Ronnel Domingo Philippine Daily Inquirer
November 08, 2009
FACTORY prices continued to drop in September at a faster rate of 3.4 percent year-on-year, according to the National Statistics Office.
NSO data show that prices of 20 selected groups of manufactured goods have been contracting on a yearly basis for the fifth straight month, dropping the steepest in September.
Preliminary results from the NSO’s monthly producer price survey showed that the drop in the producer price index (PPI) was mainly due to continued two-digit decreases observed in the furniture and fixtures, basic metals, petroleum products, and paper sectors.
Prices of these four product groups went down by 32.8 percent, 20.3 percent, 17.8 percent and 12.2 percent, respectively.
Seven other sectors showed decreasing prices, including miscellaneous manufactures, electrical machinery, food manufacturing, rubber and plastic products, fabricated metal products, tobacco products and transport equipment.
On the other hand, the report also showed that nine sectors posted increasing prices, led by wood and wood products at 20.8 percent, and footwear and wearing apparel at 12.4 percent.
Seven other sectors that increased prices at single-digit rates were chemical products, non-electrical machinery, textiles, non-metallic mineral products, publishing and printing, beverages, and leather products.
On a month-on-month basis, the PPI decreased by 0.9 percent in September, swinging from an increase of 1.6 percent in August—as five of the manufacturing sectors reported price falls, with electronic machinery losing the most at 3.9 percent.
Flat growths were observed in eight major sectors, namely rubber and plastic products, miscellaneous manufactures, leather products, tobacco products, wood and wood products, publishing and printing, beverages and textiles.
Six other sectors showed increasing monthly prices, with those of transport equipment picking up the fastest at 1.1 percent.
