— Japan Oct CGPI Posts Largest Y/Y Rise Since +0.9% In Dec 2008
— Japan CGPI Posts 1st Y/Y Rise Since +0.4% In June; Sep -0.1%
— Japan Oct CGPI +0.2% M/M Vs Sep Unchanged
— Japan CGPI Posts 1st M/M Rise Since +0.3% in May

TOKYO (MNI) – Japan’s corporate goods price index rose 0.9% from a
year earlier in October, reversing from the 0.1% drop in September and
posting the first y/y rise since +0.4% in June, in light of the Oct. 1
tobacco tax hike and strong Asian demand for iron and steel, data
released by the Bank of Japan on Thursday showed.

The October y/y rise was the largest since December 2008, when it
was also up 0.9%, a BOJ official said.

Increases in various prices led by overseas demand are gradually
filtering through to domestic prices, he told reporters.

The October figure came in stronger than the median forecast in a
Market News International survey for +0.6%.

The October CGPI was mainly pushed up by higher prices of processed
foodstuffs, petroleum and coal products, iron and steel as well as scrap
and waste, the data showed.

The index has been recovering steadily from the record 8.5% drop
marked in August and July 2009, which were the largest year-on-year
drops since the BOJ began compiling the data in 1960.

In May 2010, the CGPI rose 0.5%, marking the first y/y gain since
December 2008, when the index was up 0.9% from a year earlier. It was
followed by a 0.4% rise in June.

Prices of processed foodstuffs, including tobacco, were up 2.7%
from a year earlier, reversing from a revised 0.6% fall in September.

This pushed up the CGPI headline by 0.33 percentage point.

Petroleum and coal products were up 5.6% in October from a year
earlier, accelerating from a revised 2.8% in September.

This pushed up the CGPI by 0.32 percentage point.

Meanwhile, prices of iron and steel rose 8.2% on year in October,
also accelerating from a 4.9% in September and pushing up the CGPI by
0.48 percentage point.

Scrap and waste prices were up 19.5% on year in October,
accelerating from a revised 10.8% in September. This boosted the CGPI by
0.10 percentage point.

tokyo@marketnews.com
** Market News International Tokyo Newsroom: 81-3-5403-4833 **

[TOPICS: M$A$$$,M$J$$$,MAJDS$,MMJBJ$,MT$$$$]