19 March 2001
Inquiries: Mr Jari Harjunpää +358 9 1734 3472, Ms
Sonja Kuusisto +358 9 1734 3469, thi.tilastokeskus@stat.fi
Director in charge: Mr Jarmo Hyrkkö
Import prices fell in February
According to Statistics Finland, import prices went down by 0.7 per cent from January to February. This fall was principally due to lower prices of electrical products, oil products, basic chemicals and agricultural products.
Import prices were 1.7 per cent higher in February than one year previously. In particular, prices of coal, timber and wood products, vehicles and tobacco products rose in the year to February.
Export prices fell by 0.5 per cent from January to February. The fall was mainly attributable to lower prices of electrical products, base metals and pulp. The export price index rose by 4.2 per cent from last year's February.
The producer price index for manufactured products remained unchanged from January. The price ratios within the index changed, however. Prices of energy products went up by 2.2 per cent and those of consumer durables by 1.2 per cent. Correspondingly, prices of raw materials and output commodities went down by 1.0 per cent and those of other consumer goods by 0.7 per cent and prices of investment goods by 0.6 per cent. Producer prices for manufactured products rose by 4.0 per cent in the year to February.
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Month-on-month and year-on-year changes of Producer Price Indices in February 2001, % (1995=100) |
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|
Indices |
Point figure |
Change, % |
Change, % |
|
Producer price index for manufactured goods |
106.4 |
0.0 |
4.0 |
|
Export price index |
102.3 |
-0.5 |
4.2 |
|
Import price index |
108.8 |
-0.7 |
1.7 |
|
Basic price index for domestic supply |
107.8 |
-0.3 |
3.2 |
|
Wholesale price index |
108.0 |
-0.1 |
3.2 |
Producer price indices measure the development of commodity prices from enterprises' viewpoint. The basic price index for domestic supply measures the development of prices exclusive of tax of goods used in Finland as they enter the market. The wholesale price index describes 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, went down by 0.2 per cent from February 2000 to February 2001. Raw material prices of food, beverages and tobacco and prices of non-ferrous metals fell most, by 9.2 and 6.8 per cent, respectively. Prices of energy products correspondingly increased by 2.0 per cent.
Source: Producer Price Indices 2001, February. Statistics Finland