NEW DELHI: Driven by an uptick in food prices and pressure on energy prices due to the West Asia conflict, wholesale price index (WPI) based factory gate inflation surged for the ninth consecutive month to touch a 27-month high of 9.9% in June, as against 9.7% in May, official data showed.Similarly, the inflation in output producer price index (PPI) accelerated to 9.6% from 9.4%, which is also the highest since April 2024. Starting June, govt has started giving PPI data, covering the output and input manufacturing prices. In WPI, food prices accelerated to 5.5% during June from 3.6% in May, while mineral prices rose 9.5% as against 4.9%. Manufactured products, which have a weight of 63.1% in the WPI series, saw price rise stabilise at 7.5%. Prices in industries like food products, textiles, wood, rubber and non-metallic products increased.
Fuel prices, which have been a sore point in recent months, decelerated slightly in June to 27.4% on account of correction in global crude oil market. Among them, the prices for crude petroleum and natural gas decelerated to 34.7% from 61.5% in May. Inflation in mineral oils also corrected marginally (46.5%) from 49.8%.“Recent flare-ups in West Asia have resulted in volatility in Brent crude. On the domestic front, risks stem from below normal rainfall due to a strengthening El Nino,” said CareEdge Ratings chief economist Rajani Sinha.
