PSA: Producer prices rise faster in February

April 3, 2025 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines —  Factory gate prices picked up at a slightly faster pace in February from the previous month due to price increases in coke and refined petroleum products, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.

Preliminary PSA data yesterday showed the Producer Price Index (PPI) for manufacturing posted a faster increase of 0.8 percent in February from the previous month’s 0.7 percent.

The PPI registered a 1.4- percent decline in February last year.

For the first two months of the year, the PPI had an average growth of 0.8 percent.

“The faster annual increase of PPI for the manufacturing section in February 2025 was primarily due to the acceleration in the annual rate of the PPI for manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products industry division at 2.9 percent in February 2025 from 1.9 percent annual increase in January 2025,” the PSA said.

Coke and refined petroleum products contributed 26.5 percent to the faster PPI increase in February.

Other main contributors to the faster PPI uptick were transport equipment and other non-metallic mineral products.

In particular, the production of transport equipment posted a slower negative growth of 0.01 percent in February from the 0.7 percent decrement in January.

The manufacture of other non-metallic mineral products registered a slower decline of 1.7 percent in February from the previous month’s 3.4 percent contraction.

Of the remaining 19 industry divisions, the PSA said 14 posted increases, while five industry divisions registered declines in February.

Those with positive growth rates in February are computer, electronic and optical products; basic metals; chemical and chemical products; beverages; food products; other manufacturing and repair and installation of machinery and equipment; machinery and equipment except electrical; rubber and plastic products; wearing apparel; tobacco products; textiles; leather and related products including footwear; wood, bamboo, cane, rattan articles and related products and printing and reproduction of recorded media.

Meanwhile, industry divisions with negative growth rates in February were electrical equipment; fabricated metal products except machinery and equipment; basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations; paper and paper products and furniture.

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. wants the House of Representatives’ quinta committee to investigate the failure of industry stakeholders to follow the maximum suggested retail price (SRP) for pork products as the compliance rate was still low at 39 percent.

At a press conference, Department of Agriculture spokesman Arnel de Mesa noted that more than 60 percent of the markets in Metro Manila failed to comply with the P350 max SRP for pork shoulder and P380 max SRP for pork belly.

He said violators of the max SRP include Pritil Market in Manila, as pork shoulder ranged between P360 and P380 and pork belly, between P450 and P470; Trabajo Market, also in Manila with pork shoulder prices as high as P400 per kilo and pork belly, between P450 and P460 per kilo; Cartimar Market in Pasay City with pork belly prices at P470 per kilo; Muñoz Market in Quezon City.- Bella Cariaso