Inflation At The Factory Gate Up 4.1%

The output price index for home sales of manufactured products rose by 4.1% over the year to February as compared to January when it rose by 3.8% and 0.3% between January and February to 116.8. The incrrase was mainly due to price rises in chemical products, tobacco and alcohol products and other manufcatured goods. If excise duties are excluded the increases were 3.7% over the year and 0.3% over the month. If the more volatile sectors such as food, beverages, tobacco and petroleum are excluded the increase was 2.9% over the year and 0.3% over the month.

The input price index for materials and fuels bought by the manufacturing industry increased by 6.9% over the year to February and 0.1% over the month to February. The increases are mainly the result of price rises in imported parts and equipment, chemicals and other imported materials. These were offset by falls in the price of fuel and crude oil. Import prices as a whole increased by 0.3% between January and February. If food, beverages, tobacco and petroleum prices are excluded the increases were 1.9% over the year and 0.5% over the month.

Looking at output prices in more detail the price of petroleum products increased by 20% over the year, the next largest increase was electrical and optical which rose by 5.1%. The changes over the month were minor in comparison. Chemical products increased by 0.6%, the biggest increase followed by tobacco and alcohol at 0.5%. Petroleum products fell by -0.2% over the month. Office machinery and equipment increased by 13.4% over the year and 1.6% over the month. Recovered secondary raw materials rose by 24.7% over the year and 0.4% over the month. The prices for fabricated metal products fell by 0.5% over the year and 0.1% over the month.

The biggest contributions to the increase in input prices over the year were crude oil with an increase of 54.5% and imported metals at 8.6%. Over the month from January to February the main contributors were imported chemicals and imported metals at 0.9%, the highest since the 9.4% of September 2008, and home food materials at 0.7% offset by falls in the prices of fuel at -2.6% and crude oil at -0.7%. Office machinery and computer parts increased by 23.9% over the year and 2.8% over the month, imported non-ferrous metals increased by 21.7% over the year but fell -0.4% over the month. There were big falls in the prices of electricity and gas at -10.1% and -33.1% respectively and -18.5% overall.