German Producer Prices Rise at Fastest Annual Pace in More Than 46 Years
October 20 2021 - 3:32AM
Dow Jones News
By Maria Martinez
The index of producer prices for industrial products in Germany
rose 14.2% in September compared with the prior year, the German
statistics office Destatis said Wednesday.
This was the highest year-on-year increase since October 1974,
when prices rose strongly during the first oil crisis, Destatis
said.
"Wednesday's figures indicate that clouds are set to remain over
Germany's export-driven economy," said Thomas Rinn, Accenture's
global industrial lead. German manufacturers are continuing to
grapple with surges in freight costs spurred by the global shortage
of key materials, such as plastic, steel and timber following the
pandemic, he said.
Compared with the preceding month, the index rose by 2.3% in
September.
The main driver of the rise was energy prices, the statistics
office said. Energy prices rose by 32.6% year-on-year, due to the
strong increase in natural gas prices. The overall index after
stripping out energy was up 8.6% on year in September, Destatis
said.
Prices of intermediate goods increased by 17.4% compared with
September 2020, Destatis said. Intermediate goods prices increased,
particularly for sawn timber, as well as wooden packaging
materials, secondary raw materials and reinforcing steel in
bars.
Prices of durable consumer goods rose 3.2% year-on-year, while
capital goods, such as machines and vehicles, rose by 2.8%,
Destatis said. Prices of non-durable consumer goods increased by
2.2% compared to September 2020.
With supply chain frictions set to remain for the quarter,
maintaining resilience across the freight and logistics division
will be a key driver of post-pandemic success, Mr. Rinn said.
Write to Maria Martinez at maria.martinez@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 20, 2021 03:17 ET (07:17 GMT)
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