Factory gate prices swung back to growth in August, with the Producer Price Index (PPI) for manufacturing up 0.6 percent year-on-year from a revised 0.1 percent contraction in July and a 1.3 percent drop a year earlier, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Tuesday.
The upturn was driven mainly by coke — a gray, hard and porous material with high carbon content — and refined petroleum products, followed by food products and basic metals.
Basic metals expanded 2 percent in August from 0.4 percent the month before, while food products edged up 0.6 percent from 0.5 percent in July.
On a monthly basis, manufacturing prices rose 0.2 percent in August, faster than July’s 0.1 percent gain and reversing a 0.5 percent decline in the year-earlier period.
The biggest lift came from coke and refined petroleum products, which rebounded with a 0.5 percent increase after a 1.4 percent fall in July.
Transport equipment edged higher by 0.4 percent from 0.1 percent, while basic metals inched up 0.03 percent after a 0.2 percent decline. Together, these three divisions accounted for more than 90 percent of the month-on-month increase, the PSA said.
The agency noted that 11 of 22 manufacturing subsectors posted annual gains in August, led by petroleum, food and metals, while eight contracted.
The manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products — comprising the second-largest weight in the index — slowed its decline to 0.1 percent from 1 percent in July, contributing nearly a third to the overall improvement.
Within food manufacturing, the PSA noted a smaller drop in fish, crustaceans and mollusks of -4.0 percent, compared with the previous -7.3 percent. However, gains were partly offset by weaker growth in vegetable and animal oils and fats (16.2 percent from 16.4 percent) and dairy products (0.4 percent from 1.8 percent).
Still, the PSA said the August reading suggests early signs of recovery in factory gate prices after several months of uneven performance, with petroleum, metals, and transport equipment providing much of the lift.
