Source:Eurostat

5 MARCH 2011

PRODUCER PRICES edged down to +0.8% following five consecutive increases and month-on-month according to national statistics although external markets price rises remained milder, +0.3% on the same period.
Domestic utilities prices -- extractive industries, energy, water-- stayed nearly unchanged or +0.2% and external markets prices ranked slightly higher or +0.3%. Manufactured products prices edged down to +0.9% while external markets more subdued +0.3% reflected an adjustment with domestic prices compared with the previous month rise. Energy products followed a similar pattern as France's coke and refinery producer prices rose +4.3% and external markets +5.8%. Electric-electronic equipment producer prices IT and machinery by contrast stayed off-level as domestic prices decreased by -0.3% and external producer prices by -0.1%.  Transport equipment producer prices stayed flat as renewed demand allowed to offset raw materials price spikes while external markets producer price gained  +0.6%. Other industrial products producer prices performed nearly equally as domestic prices rose +0.9% and on external markets +1%

In the Euro area, producer prices moved down to +0.8%, a mechanical effect due to energy prices lower rise +1.2% or half the previous month increase thanks to the Euro's more favorable exchange rate, over +2% against the dollar, as crude oil prices soared over shortage concerns about violence in Libya. Intermediate Goods producer prices, overwhelmingly petroleum derived, recorded a lower gain, +1% and each Capital Goods and Durable Consumer Goods edged down to +0.2%.  Non Durable Consumer Goods producer prices remained sustained due mostly to food products and rose +0.5%.
In Germany, producer prices deflated moderately to +0.6%, Italy's fell by half to similar levels, and Spain's more substantially to +0.9%. Of the EU 27, Bulgaria, Lithuania and Slovenia by contrast observed on average one percentage point producer price rises. In the UK, the region's fifth heavy economic weight along with the Euro area's four, recorded +1.1% producer prices gain, back to November‘s level. 

In one year, domestic producer prices soared +6.3%, aligned with the Euro area's +6.6% while import prices +9.9% on the same period left no profit margin to local industrialists. The Euro area's energy prices rose +12.8% due to crude oil prices spike +40.9% on the same period and expressed in Euro, nearly equal in currency. Intermediate Goods producer prices recorded the steepest increase in the last six months, +8.1% while Capital Goods grew +1.2%. Durable Goods producer prices rose +1.8% while Non Durable producer prices +2.6% heralded additional spikes due to food prices inflationary trends.
In Germany, producer prices mirrored the Euro area's, Italy's rose +5.7%, and Spain's soared +7.6%. In the UK, producer prices jumped +9.9%.