Producer price indices - 1. quarter of 2007

The prices of agricultural products in Q1 2007 compared to Q4 2006 increased by 1.5 % due to the growth in prices for crop products by 3.7 %. The prices of potatoes grew by 8.7 %, cereals by 4.7 %, vegetables by 7.6 % and fruit by 3.6 %. The prices of animal products fell by 0.8%, the prices for pigs for slaughter and eggs fell by 3.8 % and 2.3 %, respectively. The prices of poultry went up by 0.9 %.

The prices for agricultural products were by 13.3% up in Q1 2007 y-o-y (in Q4 by 6.1 %). The growth came from the prices of crop products which were pushed up by 33.6 % while the prices of animal products were down by 3.9 %. The increase of prices for crop products owed mainly to higher prices of potatoes by 141.1 %, cereals by 34.7 % and oil plants by 17.4 %. The prices of vegetables and fruit advanced by 9.9 % and 2.4 %, respectively. The fall of prices for animal products was attributed especially to the fall of prices for pigs for slaughter by 8.8 %. The prices of milk and poultry declined by 3.8% and 1.9%, respectively. The prices of eggs were 4.1 % up.

In Q1 2007 compared to Q4 2006 the prices of industrial producers increased by 1.6 %. The most significant growth was recorded in prices for ‘electrical energy, gas, steam and hot water’ (+ 7.6 %), ‘coal and lignite, peat, crude petroleum’ (+ 6.2 %) and also for wood and wood products (+ 2.9 %). The prices for ‘food products, beverages and tobacco’ rose by 0.8 %.
In contrast, compared to Q4 2006, the prices for ‘coke, refined petroleum products’ fell by 3.9 %, for ‘rubber and plastic products’ by 0.6 % and for ‘electrical and optical equipment’ by 0.5 %.

The industrial producer prices in Q1 2007 compared to Q1 2006 rose on average by 3.2 % (in Q4 by 2.2 %). The most significant increase was recorded in prices for ‘basic metals and fabricated metal products’ (+ 7.8 %), for ‘electrical energy, gas, steam and hot water’ (+ 7.5 %) and for wood and wood products’ (+ 6.8 %). Prices for ‘food products, beverages and tobacco’ increased y-o-y by 1.6 %.

Compared to the same period of the previous year, the drop was recorded in the prices for ‘coke, refined petroleum products’ (- 5.8 %) and for ‘transport equipment’ (- 0.8 %). The prices for ‘transport equipment’ have been decreasing y-o-y since August 2004.

A detailed analysis shows that in ‘basic metals and fabricated metal products’ the most significant growth was recorded in prices for ‘non-ferrous metals and fabricated metal products’ (+ 23.1 %), followed by the increase in prices for cast iron and steel tubes (+ 16.7 %). In ‘electrical energy, gas, steam and hot water’ the most remarkable increase was recorded mainly in the prices for gaseous fuels (+ 10.7 %) and for electricity production and distribution (+ 9.3 %). Over the same period of the previous year none of the groups of either ‘basic metals and fabricated metal products’ or ‘electrical energy, gas, steam and water’ dropped below the level recorded for the same period a year earlier. In ‘food products, beverages and tobacco‘ a remarkable growth was recorded especially in the prices for ‘grain mill products, starches and starch products’ (+ 12.2 %) while the prices of ‘meat and meat products’ and ‘dairy products and ice-cream’ were the only ones which showed a drop (- 2.2 % and –1.7%, respectively).
The drop in prices for ‘transport equipment’ was mainly attributed to the drop in prices for ‘parts and accessories for motor vehicles’ (- 1.9 %).

The average monthly rate of price growth in Q1 was 0.7 % and compared to Q1 2006 it accelerated by 0.3 p.p. The most remarkable growth showed the prices for electricity, gas and water supply (rate of growth 2.5 %) and for ‘coal and lignite, peat, crude petroleum’ (2.0 %).

The prices of construction work in Q1 2007 compared to Q4 2006 rose by 0.4 % and the construction material input prices by 0.6 %.
The prices of construction work in Q1 2007 compared to Q1 2006 were y-o-y higher by 3.4 % (in Q4 2006 by 3.3 %). The construction material input prices increased by 4.2 % (in Q4 2006 by 3.6 %).

The prices of market services in Q1 2007 compared to Q4 2006 rose by 0.4 %. The prices of real estate. renting and business services grew by 0.6 % due to the price increase for services in computer and related activities (+ 0.9 %) and advertising services (+ 0.8 %).

The prices for market services Q1 2007 compared to Q1 2006 increased y-o-y by 1.8 % in total (in Q4 2006 by 3.1 %). The overall price level development was strongly affected by the prices of real estate. renting and business services which advanced by 2.7 %. In this area the highest increase showed especially the prices for advertising services (+ 3.4 %) and architectural and engineering and related technical consultancy services (+4.8%). The prices for freight transport and storage were 2.1 % up. The increase of 3.8% was recorded in prices for road freight transport. The prices for insurance and pension funding services were 1.7 % down. Especially the prices for motor car insurance dropped by 2.4 %.