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18 October 1996

Rise in wholesale and import prices - further fall in export prices

Wholesale prices rose by 0.6 per cent from August to September. The rise was due in particular to oil products, crude oil and agricultural products. In the year to September prices have risen by 0.5 per cent. The wholesale prices of domestic goods remained almost at the level of September 1995, whereas those of import products have risen by 1.5 per cent on the year before. This information can be gathered from the Wholesale Price Index of Statistics Finland.

Import prices rose by 0.5 per cent from August to September. This was attributable to higher prices of minerals, that of crude oil in particular. In the year to September import prices have risen by 2 per cent.

The fall in export prices continued in September. From August to September, prices fell by 0.5 per cent, which was due to the fall in the prices of pulp, paper and paper products as well as to cheaper base metals. The fall in export prices has been sustained since April of 1996. In the year to September export prices have fallen by over 3 per cent.

Year-on-year changes in the export price index, import price index, and wholesale price index, September 1995-1996
Figure

The terms of trade have weakened by 5.2 per cent in the year to September. They indicate the relation between export and import prices. The terms of trade have fallen since January 1996.

The HWWA index, which measures the dollar prices of raw materials on the world market, rose by 5.6 per cent from August to September. The rise was due to the higher prices of energy raw materials.

In the year to September the HWWA index was up by 13.7 per cent. This was also explained by the more expensive energy raw materials; their prices were up by 28 per cent in one year. The prices of non- ferrous metals, instead, were down by one quarter and raw materials from agriculture and forestry by 14.3 per cent over the same period.

Table

Source: Producer Price Indices, September 1996
Further information: Jarmo Ranki +358 9 1734 3472,
Anne Forss +358 9 1734 3469