Manufacturers' selling prices continue to rise

The Dutch manufacturing industry increased the selling prices of its products by 1.6 percent in January 2003 compared with December. Domestic selling prices rose by 0.8 percent, exported products cost 2.2 percent more. The increase in January comes after a price rise of 1.3 percent in December on November .

The increase in selling prices was caused largely by increases in the prices of oil products. If this sector of industry is left out of account, the increase would have been 0.5 percent for both December and January.

Producers’ prices compared with previous month

Raw materials cost more

Manufacturers had to pay 1.8 percent more for raw materials and semi-manufactured products in January than in December; those bought in the Netherlands cost 2.1 percent more, while imported raw materials and semi-manufactured products cost 1.6 percent more than in December.

Producers’ prices compared with previous year

Highest prices for one and a half years

The increase in January put selling prices at 5.7 percent above the level in January 2002 and at the highest level since June 2001.

Remarkably, the prices of intermediate consumption in the period January 2002-January 2003 rose by more than the selling prices. In January 2003 prices were 8.6 percent higher than one year previously and they, too, were back at the level of June 2001 for the first time.

Gerard Taal