18 February 2002
Inquiries: Mr Jari Harjunpää +358 9 1734 3472, Ms
Christina Harjunpää +358 9 1734 3469, thi.tilastokeskus@stat.fi
Director in charge: Mr Ilkka Lehtinen
Wholesale prices rose slightly in January
According to Statistics Finland, wholesale prices went up by 0.6 per cent from December to January. The rise in the overall index was mainly due to higher prices of oil products and electricity. From January 2001, wholesale prices went down by 1.3 per cent. The fall was primarily caused by lower prices of pulp, paper and paper products, base metals, crude oil, chemicals and chemical products, and oil products.
Import prices went up by 0.4 per cent in January. The rise was principally attributable to higher prices of crude oil, base metals and metal ores. From last year's January import prices fell by 5.5 per cent, which was mostly due to lower prices of crude oil, base metals, chemicals and chemical products.
Export prices remained unchanged in January compared to December. Within the index, the rise in prices of energy products, investment goods and consumer durables was balanced out by lower prices of raw materials, output commodities and other consumer goods. Export prices fell by 5.8 per cent from January 2001.
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Month-on-month and year-on-year changes of Producer Price Indices in January 2002 (1995=100) |
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|
Indices |
Point figure |
Change, % |
Change, % |
|
Producer price index for manufactured products |
106.2 |
0.4 |
-0.2 |
|
Export price index |
96.9 |
0.0 |
-5.8 |
|
Import price index |
103.6 |
0.4 |
-5.5 |
|
Basic price index for domestic supply |
106.3 |
0.3 |
-1.7 |
|
Wholesale price index |
106.8 |
0.6 |
-1.3 |
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 19.9 per cent from last year's January. Price of crude oil fell most, by 24.6 per cent. Without energy products, the overall index declined by 13.4 per cent.
Source: Producer Price Indices 2002, January. Statistics Finland