* December wholesale prices -2.0% yr / yr vs f’cast -2.2%
* Drop shows slow crude oil, fuel prices – BOJ data
* Lack of auto parts pushes up prices of some products (Repeats with breakdown of price movements, context on price forecast)
TOKYO, Jan. 14 (Reuters) – Japan’s wholesale prices fell 2.0% in December from a year earlier on sliding fuel costs, data showed Thursday, a sign that demand for coronavirus pandemics is under pressure on the third largest economy in the world. .
The rate of decline was less than a fall of 2.3% the previous month, however, as global demand rebounded and hopes of vaccine distribution pushed up prices for some commodities.
The fall in the corporate commodity price index (CGPI), which measures the prices companies charge for their goods and services, was less than the median market forecast for a downturn. 2.2%, data showed Bank of Japan.
The data highlights the possibility that wholesale prices will continue to decline in the coming months, if global recovery continues to push up crude oil and other commodity prices.
Prices of some chemical and electronic goods were lifted in December on strong demand for car parts, a sign that strong demand for manufactured goods around the world was the basis for inflation, the data showed.
Japanese automakers including Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda were stopped to suspend production at their overseas factories due to a shortage of semiconductors, as they were disturbed by the pandemics.
But the blow to the economy from the coronavirus pandemic will prevent any recovery in overall prices, analysts say.
“With the recent resurgence of diseases, pandemic coronavirus infection will put pressure on wholesale prices,” a BOJ official told a briefing. (Reporting by Leika Kihara; edited by Richard Pullin)