Manufacturing prices continue to fall
Lower crude oil and output prices
Year-on-year oil prices have fallen almost continuously since 2013. In May, the price of a barrel of North Sea Brent oil was 42 euros, i.e. 28 percent below the price level recorded in May 2015. In April, the barrel price was 38 euros, nearly 33 percent below the level recorded one year previously.
Year-on-year prices of petroleum derivatives slumped by 26.8 percent in May 2016 and by nearly 31 percent in April 2016. Evidently, prices of petroleum derivatives are directly affected by crude oil price developments. If petroleum price developments are not taken into account, the price drop in manufacturing output would have been 4.5 percent.
Prices of chemical, (basic) metal, food, rubber and plastic products, machinery and the automotive industry were also down from twelve months previously.
| % change | |
|---|---|
| Cars | -0.1 |
| Machine | -0.5 |
| Rubber and plastic | -0.6 |
| Metal products | -0.6 |
| Food products | -1.6 |
| Basic metal products | -5.1 |
| Chemical products | -15 |
| Petroleum products | -26.8 |
Altogether, the eight industries referred to in the above text and the corresponding graph account for 80 percent of total Dutch manufacturing industry.
Manufactured products more expensive in May than in April
Prices of manufactured products increased on a month-on-month basis. In May 2016, output prices of manufactured products rose by 1.5 percent relative to April. The price rise of manufactured products on the foreign market was somewhat more substantial than on the domestic market: 1.6 versus 1.4 percent. The crude oil price also increased in May compared to April.
Sources
- Link StatLine - Producer Prices Index; output prices by economic activity
- Link StatLine - Producer Prices Index (PPI); output and import prices by product