Industrial producer prices drop by 1.6% in August 2010

According to the NSO, during the month under review, producer price index for total industry went down by 1.6%, when compared to the previous month, “primarily as a result of a decrease in producer prices of 2.9% in the intermediate goods sector”.

On an annual basis, the NSO reported that producer prices for total industry increased by 1.1% in August 2010 when compared to August last year.

Energy prices rose by 22.4%, when compared to a year ago, while capital and consumer goods went up by 0.7% and 1.0% respectively, the NSO reported.

Offsetting this increase was a drop in prices for intermediate goods of 7.3% when compared to the same period last year.

Producer prices within the domestic market grew by 14.3% as a result of increases in energy (+22.4%) and capital goods (+5.2%) when compared to the same month last year.

On the other hand, the NSO reported that prices for intermediate goods dropped by 5.2% when compared to the same month last year.

Provisional data indicated that in the period under review, producer prices for goods destined for the non-domestic market went down by 6.2% on account of a 7.5% drop in prices of goods for the euro area.

On the other hand, for the non-euro area, prices rose by 6.0% when compared to the same month last year

On a monthly basis, the NSO reported that energy and consumer goods remained stable in August 2010 when compared to the previous month, while prices for capital goods decreased by 0.2%.

Producer prices for the domestic market went up slightly on account of a 0.6% increase in prices for intermediate goods and a 0.1% increase in prices of consumer goods when compared to July 2010.

In the month under review, the NSO reported that prices for the non-domestic market decreased by 2.6% on account of a 3.1% and 0.2% drop in prices for intermediate and capital goods respectively.

Producer prices in respect of goods destined for the euro area decreased by 3.0%, the main contributor being intermediate goods, which recorded a decrease of 3.5%.

On the other hand, a slight decline was recorded in prices for capital and consumer goods in August 2010, both by 0.1% respectively.

According to the NSO, prices in respect of goods destined for the non-euro area rose by 1.0% in August when compared to the previous month, with the largest rise observed in intermediate goods, with a hike of 1.6%.

Furthermore, consumer goods increased by 0.2%, while capital goods dropped by 0.4% when compared to July 2010, the NSO reported.