18 June, 1999
Inquiries: Mr Jarmo Ranki +358 9 1734 3472, Ms Sonja
Karell +358 9 1734 3469
Director in charge: Mr Jarmo Hyrkkö
Producer prices for manufactured goods rose by 0.4 per cent in May
According to Statistics Finland, producer prices for manufactured goods, or producer prices for goods intended for the domestic market, rose by 0.4 per cent from April to May. The rise was due to higher prices of pulp and colour metals.
In the year to May, producer prices for manufactured goods fell by 2.7 per cent, as the prices of electricity, chemicals, foodstuffs, pulp, and iron and steel metals went down.
Import prices rose by 0.3 per cent from April to May, due to increases in the prices of minerals, oil products and colour metals. In the year to May, import prices fell by 3.1 per cent, mainly due to lower prices of electrical equipment, chemicals and agricultural products.
In contrast, export prices fell by 0.1 per cent from April to May, due to lower prices of paper and board.
In May, export prices were 5.5 per cent lower than a year before. The fall was mainly due to lower prices of iron and steel metals, paper and board, electrical equipment and chemicals.
The HWWA Index, used to measure the dollar-based world market prices of raw materials, rose by 1.3 per cent from April to May. From last year's May, the index rose by 0.7 per cent, due to higher price of crude oil. The year-on-year change in the overall index excluding energy continues to be nearly 12 per cent in the negative.
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Producer price indices 1995=100 and their monthly and annual changes in May 1999, % |
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Indices |
Point figure 5/1999 |
Change 4/99 - 5/99, % |
Change 5/98 -5/99, % |
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Producer price index for manufactured goods |
97.0 |
0.4 |
-2.7 |
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Export price index |
93.5 |
-0.1 |
-5.5 |
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Import price index |
95.9 |
0.3 |
-3.1 |
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Basic price index for domestic supply |
97.9 |
0.2 |
-2.1 |
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Wholesale price index |
98.3 |
0.2 |
-2.1 |
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Producer price indices measure the development of commodity prices from enterprises' viewpoint. The basic price index for domestic supply measures the price development of goods used in Finland as they enter the market, i.e. purchase prices exclusive of tax. The wholesale price index measures the change in the purchase prices of goods used in Finland inclusive of tax. Both these indices contain domestic and imported goods.
Source: Producer Price Indices 1999, May. Statistics
Finland