India’s WPI inflation eases for 2nd straight month to 4.53% in August

Marking some relief, India’s Wholesale price index (WPI) inflation eased for the second straight month in August 2018, supported by declining minerals prices. According to the latest data released by the government, WPI slowed down to 4.53 percent in August from 5.09 percent in July and 3.24 percent during the corresponding month of the previous year. Build up inflation rate in the financial year so far was 3.18 percent compared to a build up rate of 1.41 percent in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Component wise, primary articles index having weight of 22.62 percent, rose by 0.1 percent to 135.1 (provisional) from 134.9 (provisional) for the previous month. Among the primary articles, the index for ‘Food Articles’ group rose by 0.1 percent to 144.8 (provisional) from 144.7 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Non-Food Articles’ group jumped 1.2 percent to 125.0 (provisional) from 123.5 (provisional) for the previous month and the index for ‘Crude Petroleum & Natural Gas’ group increased by 0.5 percent to 94.9 (provisional) from 94.4 (provisional) for the previous month. On the flip side, the index for ‘Minerals’ group declined by 4.9 percent to 123.2 (provisional) from 129.6 (provisional) for the previous month.

Fuel & Power index, having weight of 13.15 percent, was up by 0.5 percent to 104.9 (provisional) from 104.4 (provisional) for the previous month, on account of rising mineral oils prices.

Manufactured Products constituting the major portion of the index with weight of 64.23 percent rose by 0.3 percent to 117.8 (provisional) from 117.4 (provisional) for the previous month. Among these, the index for ‘Manufacture of Food Products’ remain unchanged at 129.0 (provisional). However, the index for ‘Manufacture of Beverages’ group rose by 0.3 percent to 120 (provisional) from 119.6 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Manufacture of Tobacco Products’ group surged 0.5 percent to 150.1 (provisional) from 149.3 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Manufacture of Textiles’ group soared 0.4 percent to 117.6 (provisional) from 117.1 (provisional) for the previous month and the index for ‘Manufacture of Wearing Apparel’ group rose by 0.7 percent to 139.1 (provisional) from 138.2 (provisional) for the previous month

Further, the index for ‘Manufacture of Wood and of  Products of Wood and Cork ‘ group was up by 0.6 percent to 132.8 (provisional) from 132.0 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Manufacture of Paper and Paper Products’ group jumped 0.7 percent to 122.6 (provisional) from 121.8 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Manufacture of Chemicals and Chemical Products’ group rose by 0.4 percent to 118.6 (provisional) from 118.1 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Manufacture of Pharmaceuticals, Medicinal Chemical and Botanical Products’ group increased by 1.4 percent to 123.5 (provisional) from 121.8 (provisional) for the previous month and the index for ‘Manufacture of Other Non-Metallic Mineral Products’ group rose by 0.2 percent to 115.9 (provisional) from 115.7 (provisional) for the previous month.

The index for ‘Manufacture of Fabricated Metal Products, Except Machinery and Equipment’ group rose by 0.8 percent to 115.5 (provisional) from 114.6 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Manufacture of Machinery and Equipment’ group surged 0.5 percent to 111.1 (provisional) from 110.5 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Manufacture of Motor Vehicles, Trailers and Semi-Trailers’ group rose by 0.7 percent to 113.3 (provisional) from 112.5 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Manufacture of Other Transport Equipment’ group was up by 0.4 percent to 111.2 (provisional) from 110.8 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Manufacture of Furniture’ group increased by 0.3 percent to 125.5 (provisional) from 125.1 (provisional) for the previous month and the index for ‘Other Manufacturing’ group rose by 1.8 percent to 106.6 (provisional) from 104.7 (provisional) for the previous month.

On the flip side, the index for ‘Manufacture of Leather and Related Products’ group declined by 0.4 percent to 122.5 (provisional) from 123.0 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Manufacture of Rubber and Plastics Products’ group declined by 0.2 percent to 109.2 (provisional) from 109.4 (provisional) for the previous month and the index for ‘Manufacture of Basic Metals’ group declined by 0.4 percent to 111.6 (provisional) from 112.1 (provisional) for the previous month.