18 February, 1999
Inquiries: Mr Jarmo Ranki +358 9 1734 3472, Ms Sonja
Karell +358 9 1734 3469
Director in charge: Mr Jarmo Hyrkkö
Export and import prices down by 7 per cent in the year
According to Statistics Finland, both export and import prices went down by 7 per cent from January 1998 to January 1999. The fall in export prices was attributable to lower prices of electrical equipment, raw materials and output commodities. Import prices, in turn, fell because the world market prices of crude oil, oil products and colour metals went clearly down, and the prices of electrical equipment also dropped.
The export prices of pulp went down by 29 per cent in the year. The export prices of base metals fell by 15 per cent and those of electrical equipment by 10 per cent.
Export and import prices continued to fall in one month as well. From December to January, export prices went down by 0.6 per cent and import prices by 0.2 per cent. Both export and import prices were pushed down by lower prices of electrical equipment and iron and steel metals. Lower prices of chemicals also reduced import prices. In contrast, the fall in import prices was curbed by higher prices of crude oil.
Producer prices for manufactured goods, or producer prices for goods intended for the domestic market, fell by 4.2 per cent in the year to January. Principally, the prices of pulp, oil products, electricity and base metals went down. From December to January, producer prices for manufactured goods fell by 0.4 per cent, as the prices of timber, iron and steel metals and chemicals decreased.
The HWWA index, used to measure the dollar-based world market prices of raw materials, was down by 18 per cent in the year to January. The rate of decrease slowed down, since the index fell by 27 per cent from December 1997 to December 1998. From December to January, the HWWA index went up by 2.8 per cent, which is due to higher prices of crude oil.
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| Monthly and annual changes in producer price indices, January 1999, % | ||
| Indices | 12/98 - 1/99 | 1/98 - 1/99 |
| Producer price index for manufactured goods | -0.4 | -4.2 |
| Export price index | -0.6 | -7.0 |
| Import price index | -0.2 | -6.7 |
| Basic price index for domestic supply | -0.3 | -3.7 |
| Wholesale price index | -0.3 | -3.5 |
Source: Producer Price Indices 1999, January. Statistics Finland