Taiwan's CPI saw a new high increase of 0.64% in Feb.

Taipei, March 9, 2004 (CENS)--Taiwan's consumer price index (CPI) in February rose 0.64% from one year earlier, for the highest increase of its kind in 13 months, according to the Cabinet-level Directorate General of Budget, Accounting & Statistics (DGBAS).

DGBAS statistics showed that the general CPI stood at 99.71 points (2001 = 100) in February, down 0.79% from a month earlier; while the average consumer price grew 0.32% in the first two months of the year.

In February, fruit and vegetable prices climbed 2.67% from a year earlier, and oil prices soared 5.39%. But the house rentals dropped 0.83%, for the 29 consecutive monthly decline of its kind. If excluding the prices of fresh food and energy, the core CPI for the month edged down 0.03%.

Market observers indicated that the CPI growth was mainly caused by the hikes in commodity prices and had nothing to do with the service industry, which saw a price drop in February.

As to the wholesale price index (WPI), it stood at 105.74 (2001 = 100) in February, up 1.04% from a month earlier and up 2.09% from one year earlier. The upward movement of WPI was due mainly to the rise in the prices of basic metals, sand & gravel, petrochemicals and some agricultural and livestock products.

The import price index for February posted an annual growth of 2.37% if calculated in the New Taiwan dollar, and recorded a much higher annual expansion of 7.18% if based on the U.S. dollar. Of various import products, basic metals and related products saw the highest annual price hike of 44.17%, especially the import prices for steel billets, steel scraps, copper, aluminum, and nickel.

As the international prices of paper, wood, pulp and related products also increased sharply in the first two months of the year, Taiwan's import prices of such products jumped by 10.91% in February. In addition, the import prices of plastic products saw a rise of 6.67%, due mainly to the surge in international market prices of ethylene glycol (EG), styrene monomer (SM), vinyl chloride monomer (VCM), polyethylene (PE), and polypropylene (PP).

Some worried that the rising import prices of raw materials might push up the prices of domestic products, which might lead to inflation. However, DGBAS analyzed that Taiwan does not have any inflation pressure today because many domestic manufacturers have already moved their production lines to the mainland.

As to the export price index for February, it fell 2.85% from the same month of last year. But if calculated in the U.S. dollar, the index posted an annual growth of 1.29%. The hiked quotation prices of stainless steel planks, cold- & hot-rolled steel sheets, steel tubes, and copper planks helped push up the export prices of basic metals & related products by 15.2%.

Taiwan's CPI in February 2004
Category		Weighted index	Index (2001 = 100)	Growth (%), compared to Feb. 2003
General index		1000.00	99.71	0.64
Basic categories	Food	250.54	101.25	2.67
	Clothing	47.46	97.51	3.27
	Housing	307.94	97.07	-0.69
	Transportation & communications	126.25	99.68	0.93
	Medicines & medical care	37.37	106.20	1.37
	Education & entertainment	161.11	98.58	-0.91
	Miscellaneous	69.33	105.5	0.1
Nature of Products	Merchandise	528.52	100.16	1.27
	Services	471.48	99.19	-0.09

Source: DGBAS

Taiwan's WPI in February 2004
Category		Index (2001 = 100)	Growth (%), compared to Feb. 2003
General index		105.74	2.09
Product sources	Domestic products	111.17	6.05
	Import products	109.85	2.37
	Export products	95.84	-2.85
Basic categories	Agricultural, forestry, livestock, & fishery products	120.26	18.56
	Minerals	131.70	4.04
	Manufacturing products	104.19	1.33
	Water supply, electricity & gas	98.81	0.2
Processing stages	Raw materials	135.05	11.58
	Medium products	111.40	5.20
	Finished products	100.46	-0.26

Source: DGBAS

Items recording sizable fluctuation in prices between Feb. 2003 and Feb. 2004
Item	Rise (%)	Item	Fall (%)
Green onion	66	Green pepper	-33
Papaya	52	Mobile phone	-20
Wax apple	32	Cabbage	-19
Betel nut	21	Newspaper	-19
Beef	13	Digital camera	-14
Ward service charge	9	Prescribed medicine	-9
Toy	8	Personal computer	-8
Natural gas	7	Air conditioners	-5
Flight ticket	6	Egg	-5
Gold decoration & jewelry	5	Liquid gas	-4

Source: DGBAS