17 September, 1999
Inquiries: Mr Jarmo Ranki +358 9 1734 3472, Ms Sonja
Karell +358 9 1734 3469
Director in charge: Mr Jarmo Hyrkkö
Producer prices rose by one per cent in August
According to Statistics Finland, import prices rose by one per cent from July to August. Other producer price indices went up by 0.4 per cent in the same time period. The increase in import prices was caused by higher world market prices of crude oil, oil products and basic metals.
In the year to August import prices went up by 2.3 per cent. The increase was principally due to the risen world market price of crude oil, but also to higher prices of oil products and colour metals. Against this, lower prices of electrical, agricultural and forestry products suppressed import price increases.
Export prices, and producer prices for manufactured goods, or producer prices for goods intended for the domestic market, rose by 0.4 per cent from July to August, mainly due to increases in the prices of oil products. Nevertheless, export prices were still 3.9 per cent lower than in August 1998. This was due to falls in the prices of electrical products and iron and steel metals. In the year to August, producer prices for manufactured goods fell by 0.5 per cent, primarily because the prices of electricity, iron and steel metals went down.
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Producer price indices 1995=100 and their monthly and annual changes in August 1999, % |
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Indices |
Point figure 8/1999 |
Change 7/99 - 8/99, % |
Change 8/98 - 8/99, % |
|
Producer price index for manufactured goods |
98.5 |
0.4 |
-0.5 |
|
Export price index |
94.1 |
0.4 |
-3.9 |
|
Import price index |
98.9 |
1.0 |
2.3 |
|
Basic price index for domestic supply |
99.6 |
0.4 |
0.4 |
|
Wholesale price index |
100.0 |
0.4 |
0.6 |
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.
The HWWA Index, used to measure the dollar-based world market prices of raw materials, rose by 5.3 per cent from July to August. From last year's August, the index has risen by 24.4 per cent. Both the monthly and the annual rise were caused by increases in the price of crude oil.
Source: Producer Price Indices 1999, August. Statistics Finland