Producer price index, 15 November 2011

Higher prices of energy goods like crude oil and natural gas together with electricity were the main reason for the rise in PPI from October to November. Measured in NOK, the price of crude oil (Brent Blend) increased by about 3 per cent, while in USD the price of crude oil increased by only 2 per cent.

Falling prices in basic metals

From October to November, manufacturing prices remained more or less unchanged, slightly down by 0.1 per cent. Several industries were characterised by small price changes, but basic metals experienced a 3.6 per cent drop in prices. Lower prices in non-ferrous metals were the most important reason behind this decrease, with lower prices on aluminium and nickel. In addition, prices of iron and steel fell. Although prices of metals fell in both the domestic and the export market, the export market experienced the largest price fall.

Two industries that experienced price growth from October to November were refined petroleum products and food products, where prices increased by 0.7 and 0.4 per cent respectively. Higher prices of meat and meat products were important to the overall price growth in food products.

Twelve-month change: PPI rose by 12.9 per cent

PPI rose by 12.9 per cent from November 2010 to November 2011. High price growth in crude oil and petroleum products was important to the overall growth in PPI in this period. Electricity prices were about 20 per cent lower in November this year compared to the same period in 2010. This can be explained by the sharp increase in electricity prices from August to December in 2010, when low reservoir levels contributed to bringing electricity prices up. With the exception of the 15 per cent increase from October to November, we have not seen a corresponding growth in electricity prices this fall.