Manufacturing output prices up by almost 3 percent

Higher crude oil prices in July

In July 2017, the price of a barrel of North Sea Brent oil was almost 43 euros, around 2 percent higher than in July 2016. In June, the crude oil barrel price stood at over 42 euros, 5 percent down from June 2016.

Output prices are strongly affected by crude oil price developments. In July, prices of petroleum derivatives increased by 4 percent year-on-year, versus a price decrease of over 1 percent in June.

In the chemical industry as well, output prices are affected by changes in the price of crude oil. Output prices of chemical products were 4.5 percent up in July year-on-year. In June, the average year-on-year price increase was almost 7 percent.

Price increases in the basic metal, the food and metal products industries were above average. This is partly due to higher prices for agricultural raw materials and metals. Prices of rubber and plastic products as well as prices in the automotive industry were also higher than one year previously. On the other hand, prices of machinery and equipment were again below the level of twelve months previously.

Altogether, the eight industries referred to in the above text and the corresponding graph account for 80 percent of the total Dutch manufacturing industry.

Prices of manufactured products lower in July than in June

Prices of manufactured products fell by almost 0.5 percent in July relative to June; they remained more or less the same, while the decline was almost 1 percent on the foreign market.