Press release No. 395 of 20 August 2021
Producer prices of industrial products (domestic market), July 2021
+1.9% on the previous month
+10.4% on the same month a year earlier
WIESBADEN – In July 2021, the index of producer prices for industrial products increased by 10.4% compared with July 2020. As reported by the Federal Statistical Office this was the highest increase compared to the corresponding month of the preceding year since January 1975 (+10.5%), when prices rose strongly during the first oil crisis. Compared with the preceding month June 2021 the overall index rose by 1.9% in July 2021.
Mainly responsible for the increase of producer prices compared to July 2020 were the prices of intermediate products and of energy.
Significant price increase on intermediate goods, especially regarding metals, secondary raw materials and wood
Prices of intermediate goods increased by 15.6% compared to July 2020. Compared to June 2021 these prices were up 2.3 %. Compared to July 2020 intermediate goods’ prices increased especially regarding sawn timber (+110.7%) and metallic secondary raw materials (+100.2%) as well as reinforcing steel in bars (+81.5%). Metal prices were up 32.2% compared to July 2020. Prices of metallic steel and ferro-alloys increased by 52.3%, prices of non-ferrous metals were up 23.2%. “The main reasons for the rise in steel and wood prices are likely to be increasing demand in Germany and abroad, problems in the supply of raw materials and sharp increases of import prices for iron ore (+97.4% from June 2020 to June 2021)”, states Gerda Gladis-Dörr, head of section Producer prices, Foreign trade prices and Wholesale prices. Also prices for basic chemicals showed a strong plus compared to July 2020 (+19.0%). Only few prices of intermediate goods fell compared to July 2020, two of them being electronic integrated circuits (-9.5%) and wood in chips and particles (-20.6%).
Strong increase in prices for all energy sources
Energy prices as a whole increased by 20.4% compared to July 2020 and by 4.1 compared to June 2021. According to Gerda Gladis-Dörr the price increase from July 2020 to July 2021 is mainly caused by a base effect resulting from the sharp drop in prices in spring 2020 in the course of the pandemic. National CO2-pricing that has been introduced in January 2021 on several energy products also had a great impact on the price increase of energy. For example prices of natural gas sold to industrial consumers with an annual consumption of 116 300 MWh increased by 45.0% disregarding CO2-pricing, including CO2-pricing they rose by 56.5%.
The overall index disregarding energy was 7.4% up on July 2020.
Prices of durable consumer goods increased by 2.2% compared to July 2020 (+0.6% compared to June 2021), capital goods, such as machines and vehicles, by 1.8% (+0.5% compared to June 2021).
Increasing prices for oils and fat led to growth in prices of non-durable consumer goods
Prices of non-durable consumer goods increased by 1.8% compared to July 2020 and remained unchanged compared to June 2021. From July 2020 to July 2021 food prices increased by 2.3%. Prices of crude vegetable oils were up 37.4%, butter prices rose by 18.5%. By contrast, pork prices still were down 2.2%. Prices of ice cream fell by 3.5% compared to July 2020.
| Year / month | 2015 = 100 | Change in % compared with | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| corresponding month of preceding year | preceding month | |||
| 2020 | July | 103.2 | -1.7 | 0.2 |
| August | 103.2 | -1.2 | 0.0 | |
| September | 103.6 | -1.0 | 0.4 | |
| October | 103.7 | -0.7 | 0.1 | |
| November | 103.9 | -0.5 | 0.2 | |
| December | 104.7 | 0.2 | 0.8 | |
| 2021 | January | 106.2 | 0.9 | 1.4 |
| February | 106.9 | 1.9 | 0.7 | |
| March | 107.9 | 3.7 | 0.9 | |
| April | 108.8 | 5.2 | 0.8 | |
| May | 110.4 | 7.2 | 1.5 | |
| June | 111.8 | 8.5 | 1.3 | |
| July | 113.9 | 10.4 | 1.9 | |
| thereof: | ||||
| Intermediate goods | 118.6 | 15.6 | 2.3 | |
| Capital goods | 107.7 | 1.8 | 0.5 | |
| Durable consumer goods | 109.5 | 2.2 | 0.6 | |
| Non-durable consumer goods | 108.9 | 1.8 | 0.0 | |
| Energy | 118.2 | 20.4 | 4.1 | |
Long time series on the overall index are available in table Producer price indices for industrial products (61241-0002), more detailed data in table Producer price indices for industrial products (61241-0006) in the GENESIS-Online database
