Costlier crude oil, cocoa and aluminium helped lift German import prices by a greater-than-expected 0.8 per cent month on month in August, Federal Statistics Office data showed today.
Compared with August 2002, import prices were 1.7 per cent lower, underscoring that price pressures in Europe's largest economy remain weak.
Excluding mineral oils, import prices rose 0.3 per cent month on month but also fell 1.7 per cent year on year.
Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast the headline import price index rising 0.3 per cent month on month and declining 2.3 per cent year on year. In July, import prices rose 0.2 per cent month on month and fell 2.0 per cent year on year.
So far there is little sign of German firms being able to pass on higher import prices to consumers. Factory gate prices declined for a 12th consecutive month in August, according to the monthly Reuters/BME survey of purchasing managers. Strong competition, excess capacity and pressure from customers were all reported to have encouraged price discounting, said NTC Research, which compiles the PMI data.
Germany's consumer price index in September fell 0.1 per cent month on month, rising at an unchanged annual rate of 1.1 per cent, according to preliminary data published this week. While cocoa in August was 7.1 per cent more expensive than in July it was still 25 per cent cheaper than in August 2002, the Statistics Office said.
Similarly, aluminium was nearly six per cent cheaper on the year despite a month-on-month price increase of 4.3 per cent.