The high prices put energy-intensive sectors in particular under pressure.
(Photo: dpa)
Wiesbaden Extremely expensive energy drove producer prices for commercial products in Germany to a post-war record in December 2021. The prices were 24.2 percent above the value from the same month last year, as reported by the Federal Statistical Office on Thursday.
According to the authority, there has never been such an increase in the Federal Republic. The annual average was an increase of 10.5 percent compared to the previous year after a decrease of 1.0 percent in 2020.
The producer prices category describes the price development for mining, industrial, energy and water management products produced and sold in Germany. They also affect consumer prices at a later stage in the economic process.
Energy prices were an average of 69 percent higher in December than a year earlier. Excluding energy, producer prices rose by only 10.4 percent.
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Intermediate goods cost almost a fifth more than a year ago. Metals increased in price here by 36.1 percent. The prices for pig iron, steel and ferroalloys climbed particularly strongly at 54.4 percent. Very high increases were also recorded for secondary raw materials (+69.1 percent), packaging materials made of wood (+66.9 percent) and fertilizers and nitrogen compounds (+63.5 percent).
Corrugated paper and cardboard, which play an important role in the packaging industry, cost 41.3 percent more. Paper and cardboard rose by 30.3 percent. Livestock feed prices increased by 26.8 percent, grain meal by 21.5 percent.
The increases in consumer goods (+4.7 percent) and capital goods (+3.8 percent) were less significant.
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