Japan wholesale prices rise the most in 5 months, put squeeze on corp profits
FILE PHOTO: A shopper wearing a protective mask pushes a shopping cart at Japan's supermarket group Aeon's shopping mall as the mall reopens amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Chiba, Japan, May 28, 2020. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
TOKYO : Japanese corporate goods prices grew the most in five months in September, Bank of Japan data showed on Thursday, highlighting the squeeze on business profits from persistently strong wholesale inflation.
The 9.7 per cent year-on-year rise in the corporate goods price index (CGPI), which measures the price companies charge each other for their goods and services, was much bigger than a median market forecast for a 8.8 per cent increase, BOJ data showed.
It was the biggest annual increase since a 9.8 per cent rise registered in April, underlining the stiff margin pressure facing corporates as many of them struggle to pass on the costs to consumers.
A weak yen, which inflates the cost of imports, has exacerbated already high wholesale inflation from a global surge in commodity prices.
That combination has driven the index, at 116.3, to a record high since the survey began in 1960.
Reflecting persistently strong input pressure, wholesale prices rose 0.7 per cent in September from the previous month, when it increased 0.4 per cent.
The yen-based import price index rose 48.0 per cent year-on-year in September, after a revised 43.2 in August and a revised 49.2 per cent in July, the data showed.
