ROME (ITALPRESS) – In January, the cyclical increase and acceleration of trend growth in industry producer prices are mainly explained by strong price increases in the energy component (especially electricity and gas supply) in the domestic market; net of this component, prices are almost stationary on a monthly basis and show much smaller year-on-year growth.
In the domestic market, trend growth in the prices of consumer goods (+1.8 percent, from +1.5 percent in December) and capital goods (+0.6 percent, from +0.4 percent in December) accelerates further, and prices of intermediate goods–which have been declining since May 2023–return to year-on-year growth, albeit modestly (+0.1 percent). For construction, prices register new increases on a monthly basis, albeit modestly; on a year-on-year basis, they are stationary for buildings, up modestly for roads. This is according to the Istat survey of producer prices for industry and construction. Specifically, in January 2025, producer prices in industry are up 1.6 percent on a monthly basis and 4.4 percent on an annual basis (it was +1.1 percent in December). In the domestic market, prices rise 2.0 percent from December 2024 and 6.0 percent year-on-year (from +1.3 percent in the previous month). Excluding the energy sector, prices show a modest cyclical increase (+0.2%) and much smaller trend growth (+0.8%; was +0.5% in December)
On the foreign market, prices increase by 0.4% month-on-month (+0.4% euro area, +0.3% non-euro area) and 1.0% year-on-year (+0.9% euro area, +1.1% non-euro area). In the November 2024-January 2025 quarter, compared with the previous quarter, industry producer prices grew by 2.5% (+3.4% domestic market, +0.4% foreign market). In January 2025, among manufacturing activities, the highest trend increases are in basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations (+2.5 percent) and other manufacturing, repair and installation of machinery and equipment (+2.2 percent), in the domestic market, and coke and refined petroleum products (+6.7 percent euro area, +5.6 percent non-euro area) and wood, paper and printing industry (+7.0 percent euro area), in the foreign market.
Trend declines are noted for a limited number of sectors, the largest for rubber and plastic articles, other non-metallic mineral products (-1.5 percent euro area) and basic pharmaceuticals and pharmaceutical preparations (-1.5 percent non-euro area). In the domestic market, year-on-year growth in electricity and gas supply prices is accelerating sharply (+18.1 percent, from +3.6 percent in December 2024). In January 2025, construction producer prices for Residential and Non-Residential Buildings grow by 0.3% on a monthly basis and are stationary on a year-on-year basis (it was -0.2% the previous month); those for Roads and Railways increase by 0.6% in cyclical terms and 0.1% in trend terms (from -0.5% in December 2024).
– photo screenshot Istat data –
(ITALPRESS).
