Industrial prices rose by 0.8% in February 2011 in the Basque Country

Industrial prices in the Basque Country rose by 0.8% in February 2011 compared to the previous month, according to EUSTAT data. The year-on-year rate for February, which indicates the fluctuation in industrial prices over the last twelve months, therefore showed growth to be 5.0%.

A more detailed sectorial analysis shows that the most inflationary branches in February 2011, with respect to the previous month, included "Coke Plants and Oil Refining" (3.9%), "Electricity, Gas and Steam" (1.9%), "Food, Beverages and Tobacco" (1.6%) and "Extraction Industries (1.1%). On the other hand, the sectors that post decreases in their prices were Computer and Electronic Products (-2.3%), Electrical Equipment and Material (-0.6%), Rubber and Plastic (-0.3%) and Timber, Paper & Graphic Arts (-0.1%).

During the year-on-year period, February 2011 on February 2010, the highest price rises were recorded by Coke Plants & Oil Refining" (24.4%) Electricity, Gas & Steam (23.6%), Metallurgy (10.1%) and Food, Beverages & Tobacco (8.3%). On the other hand, prices fell in "Extraction Industries" (-6.7%) and "Pharmaceutical Products" (-1.0%).

According to the Classification of Goods by Economic Destination, the February price evolution of large sectorial groups was as follows. the price of Energy rose by 3.4%, Intermediary Goods were up by 0.5% and the prices of Capital Goods increased by 0.1%. The prices of Consumer Goods overall remained steady (0.0%), as the result of the slight increase in Durables (0.5%), as Non-Durables remained stable with respect to the previous month (0.0%).

The price evolution of these large groups of goods also increased in all cases over the year-on-year period. Energy prices increased by 24.1%, Intermediate Goods by 8.7%, Capital Goods were up 1.8% and Consumer Goods registered a 2.8% increase. Among the latter, the prices of Non-Durables rose 3.6% while Durables were up by 0.7%.
By Mónica