Japan's May wholesale price rise slows as fuel spike moderates

JAPAN'S wholesale prices rose 9.1 per cent in May from a year earlier, slowing from the previous month's increase as the recent spike in fuel costs moderated, data showed on Friday (Jun 10).

But the yen-based import prices spiked 43.3 per cent in May from a year earlier, accelerating from the previous month's 42.2 per cent gain, in a sign the yen's recent declines were pushing up already rising raw material costs.

The increase in the corporate goods price index (CGPI), which measures the price of goods companies charge each other, was smaller than a median market forecast for a 9.8 per cent gain.

It followed a 9.8 per cent increase in April, Bank of Japan (BOJ) data showed.

Global commodity inflation driven by the war in Ukraine and the yen's falls to 2-decade lows have pushed up wholesale prices in Japan, squeezing profits for retailers.

Companies are gradually passing on the higher costs to households. Core consumer prices rose 2.1 per cent in April from a year earlier, much slower than the pace of increase in Western economies but exceeding the BOJ's 2 per cent target for the first time in 7 years. REUTERS