The price of oil drove the PPI up

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The Producer Price Index (PPI) went up by 0.5 per cent in March. The PPI has been on an upward trend since the summer of 2017, having increased in seven of the last eight months.

After a decline in February the PPI rose again in March as it did the previous six months before that. The price of crude oil and natural gas were the main contributors. One barrel of Brent Crude oil was priced at around 70 US dollars towards the end of the month. Among the industries that pulled in the other direction, the most important were extraction related services and refined petroleum products. Although crude oil is the main input factor in the refining industry, the price development does not always coincide. Over time, however, one will see a clear relationship between the price development of crude oil and refined petroleum products.

Figure 1. Price indices, 2010 = 100

Extraction of crude petroleum Manufacture of refined petroleum products
Jan. 2010 91.1 92.14
Feb. 2010 91.7 92.33
Mar. 2010 98.02 100.35
Apr. 2010 104.43 103.44
May 2010 99.08 101.32
Jun. 2010 100.44 101.44
Jul. 2010 99.12 99.07
Aug. 2010 97.88 97.68
Sept. 2010 97.71 98.18
Oct. 2010 100.74 101.18
Nov.2010 105.85 103.29
Dec. 2010 113.92 109.57
Jan. 2011 118.32 112.83
Feb. 2011 124.25 116.38
Mar. 2011 133.38 127.9
Apr. 2011 139.82 134.53
May 2011 132.04 127.68
Jun. 2011 131.3 125.29
Jul. 2011 133.04 128.02
Aug. 2011 125.78 123.34
Sept. 2011 132.56 126.41
Oct. 2011 128.8 124.88
Nov.2011 132.7 125.73
Dec. 2011 131.77 125.03
Jan. 2012 137.5 131.75
Feb. 2012 141.26 133.94
Mar. 2012 148.41 140.6
Apr. 2012 143.23 143.13
May 2012 134.12 135.09
Jun. 2012 119.33 126.43
Jul. 2012 129.49 130.37
Aug. 2012 138.97 137.99
Sept. 2012 133.53 141.26
Oct. 2012 131.6 134.68
Nov.2012 130.09 129.15
Dec. 2012 128.76 126.24
Jan. 2013 130.77 124.24
Feb. 2013 133.74 127.39
Mar. 2013 130.13 129.33
Apr. 2013 123.41 125.95
May 2013 122.97 122.26
Jun. 2013 125.97 122.38
Jul. 2013 135.45 129.38
Aug. 2013 137.95 129.97
Sept. 2013 138.47 132.64
Oct. 2013 134.87 130.72
Nov.2013 135.33 130.68
Dec. 2013 141.08 133.09
Jan. 2014 138.81 131.83
Feb. 2014 139.01 132.11
Mar. 2014 133.62 129.18
Apr. 2014 133.62 128.33
May 2014 135.5 127.98
Jun. 2014 140.32 130.33
Jul. 2014 137.46 131.81
Aug. 2014 131.46 131.04
Sept. 2014 129.07 124.24
Oct. 2014 119.95 122.75
Nov.2014 111.93 116.68
Dec. 2014 93.64 105
Jan. 2015 78 90.2
Feb. 2015 92.95 93.16
Mar. 2015 93.95 100.48
Apr. 2015 98.95 103.6
May 2015 102.78 104.2
Jun. 2015 104.84 104.77
Jul. 2015 97.44 103.74
Aug. 2015 81.59 96.7
Sept. 2015 83.92 90.21
Oct. 2015 84.9 92.72
Nov.2015 83.4 91.61
Dec. 2015 70.57 85.78
Jan. 2016 57.89 77.15
Feb. 2016 60.77 72.22
Mars.2016 70.24 73.99
Apr. 2016 73.86 78.96
May 2016 81.64 86.33
Jun. 2016 87 92.65
Jul. 2016 82.13 96.31
Aug. 2016 80.44 89.03
Sept. 2016 81.68 89.18
Oct. 2016 87.32 92.38
Nov.2016 82.02 95.86
Dec. 2016 96.98 97.83
Jan. 2017 97.43 110.37
Feb. 2017 96.31 118.49
Mar. 2017 93.63 109.96
Apr. 2017 95.83 108.6
May 2017 91.29 103.22
Jun. 2017 82.57 97.92
Jul. 2017 83.44 93.94
Aug. 2017 84.94 97.22
Sept. 2017 90.8 107.62
Oct. 2017 95.18 114.49
Nov.2017 106.03 116.07
Dec. 2017 109.96 127.6
Jan. 2018 113.82 128.15
Feb. 2018 105.68 123.73
Mar. 2018 108.31 119.47

Decline in manufacturing while electricity went up

Despite of a decrease in prices on refined petroleum products especially but also on basic metals, the prices within manufacturing as a whole only went down by 0.1 per cent. This decline was more or less offset by higher prices on food products. Prices on processed fish, dairy products and animal feed were among the subgroups that increased in prices.

The prices of electricity went up by 7.3 per cent and it was the fifth month in a row with an increase. In addition, the electricity index was 35.6 per cent higher than March last year. From July 2015 the index, which is amongst the most volatile within the PPI, has risen by almost 168 per cent towards March 2018.

Figure 2. Price index, 2015 = 100

Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply
Mar. 2015 108.78
Apr. 2015 106.99
May 2015 99.6
Jun. 2015 82.8
Jul. 2015 71.06
Aug. 2015 79.74
Sept. 2015 89.29
Oct. 2015 104.39
Nov.2015 114.53
Dec. 2015 102.82
Jan. 2016 140.55
Feb. 2016 110.19
Mars.2016 115.89
Apr. 2016 115.7
May 2016 117.23
Jun. 2016 126.9
Jul. 2016 124.29
Aug. 2016 121.98
Sept. 2016 122.56
Oct. 2016 145.39
Nov.2016 166.86
Dec. 2016 146.2
Jan. 2017 140.91
Feb. 2017 143.2
Mar. 2017 140.41
Apr. 2017 137.75
May 2017 137.86
Jun. 2017 126.42
Jul. 2017 130.31
Aug. 2017 133.24
Sept. 2017 146.07
Oct. 2017 137.8
Nov.2017 153.48
Dec. 2017 154.51
Jan. 2018 158.32
Feb. 2018 177.4
Mar. 2018 190.39

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