PHL wholesale price growth hits six-month high in March

WHOLESALE PRICE GROWTH for general goods picked up in March, propelled by rising mineral fuel prices following the start of the Iran conflict, the Philippine Statistics Agency (PSA) reported Tuesday.

Citing preliminary data, the PSA said the general wholesale price index (GWPI) was up 2.7%, but weaker than the 3.6% reading from a year earlier. The month-earlier reading had been 1.7%.

It was the highest reading since the 2.9% posted in September.

The GWPI averaged 2% in the first quarter, against the 3.1% posted during the same period last year.

“The uptrend in the annual growth rate of the GWPI was mainly caused by the faster annual increase in the index of mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials at 33.1% in March 2026 from 0.5% in the previous month,” the PSA said in a statement.

Cid L. Terosa, an associate professor at the UA&P School of Economics, said the sudden rise in the subindex was caused by the “meteoric” rise in petroleum prices due to the Iran war.

“I expect the rise to be sustained and intensified in (the second quarter) and beyond, as long as the end of the Iran war continues to be a hazy prospect,” Mr. Terosa said in an e-mail.

The mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials subindex carries a 3% weighting on the GWPI.

Stronger price growth was also observed in food (3.3%, from 2.5% in February), beverages and tobacco (2.9% from 2.6%), manufactured goods classified chiefly by materials (0.2% from 0.1%), machinery and transport equipment (0.9% from 0.3%), and miscellaneous manufactured articles (0.8% from 0.6%).

“Many commodities, particularly manufacturing products, use mineral fuels, lubricants, and related materials as key production inputs. The second-order effects of the mineral fuel price shock on these commodities will be considerable,” Mr. Terosa said.

Chemicals, including animal and vegetable oils and fats, saw price growth slow to 1%, from 3.6%. Meanwhile, prices for crude materials, inedible except fuels, reversed to an 8.4% decline, from a 6.5% increase previously.

All the major island groups posted stronger wholesale price growth during March. The GWPI in Luzon rose to 2.6%, weaker than the 3.9% reading in March 2025 but stronger than the 1.5% posted in February 2026.

The GWPI in the Visayas shot up to 5.1% from 0.8% a year earlier and 3.3% a month prior. It was the strongest reading since the 5.6% seen last May 2024.

In Mindanao, wholesale price growth accelerated to 2.9%, from the 0.8% posted in March 2025 and the 2% reading in February 2026.

Mr. Terosa said that the GWPI will continue to track headline inflation, “since it reflects potential trends in retail consumer prices.” — Pierce Oel A. Montalvo