Factory gate prices finally showed growth in April at 1.6 percent year on year following 23 straight months of decline, according to the National Statistics Office.
The turnaround was attributed mainly to the continuing double-digit hike in prices of petroleum products, registering at 25.6 percent.
Results from the NSO’s latest monthly survey of factory gate prices—which covered 20 selected groups of manufactured goods included in the producer price index (PPI)—showed that prices in 12 other groups rose while six others gained, while one showed no price change.
Posting single-digit drops were the prices of food manufacturing, non-electrical machinery, tobacco products, fabricated metal products, textiles, rubber and plastic products, transport equipment, nonmetallic mineral products, leather products, footwear and wearing apparel, wood and wood products, and basic metals.
On the other hand, prices of furniture and fixtures continued to contract, settling at -31.1 percent.
Other price losers in April were electrical machinery, paper and paper products, beverages, miscellaneous manufactured items, and chemicals.
Latest data on manufacturing output showed that the growth in the value and volume of manufacturing output continued to slow down in March at 9.7 percent and 11.1 percent year on year, respectively, compared with February levels.
In March, growth in value eased from 11.6 percent in February, while volume increased for the 16th consecutive month.