Prices in the food industry rise 20% and chain 14 months with double-digit increases
Industrial prices stagnated their year-on-year growth in February at 7.8%, thus remaining at the lows for March 2021, as reported this Friday by the National Statistics Institute (INE).
It was just from March 2021 when industrial inflation began an escalation that led it to register double-digit rates for more than 20 months.
With the year-on-year upturn in February, the same as that experienced in January, inflation in the industrial sector chains 26 consecutive months of positive rates.
The maintenance of the interannual rate of industrial prices is due to the rise experienced by energy, which raised its growth by almost two points, up to 4.5%, due to the increase in the cost of electricity production, and the decrease registered in the 6.6% in the interannual rates of intermediate goods and 4.6% in capital goods.
According to the INE, without counting energy, industrial prices showed an interannual decrease of 9.5% last February, a rate one point lower than that of January and more than 1.5 points above the general rate.
By activities, the biggest price increases compared to February 2022 occurred in the food industry (20%), which has accumulated 14 months with double-digit increases; the manufacture of other non-metallic mineral products (16.2%); the paper industry (12%) and coking plants and oil refining (11.8%). On the other hand, the only year-on-year decrease in prices was recorded by metallurgy (-3.3%).
PRICES RISE 2.1% IN FEBRUARY
In the monthly rate (February over January), industrial prices rose by 2.1%, thereby breaking the downward trend that had accumulated for four consecutive months.
Energy was the sector that led to the monthly increase in industrial inflation in February, registering a rise of 6%, followed by non-durable consumer goods, whose increase of 0.8% was conditioned by the increase in the prices of processing and preservation of meat and production of meat products.
At the other extreme, in February the industrial sector of intermediate goods stood out, with no change rate.
The activities where prices increased the most in a monthly rate and which had the greatest impact were the production, transportation and distribution of electrical energy, which increased their prices by 22.7% compared to the previous month; the manufacture of cement, lime and plaster (6.6%), and the processing and preservation of fruits and vegetables (2%).
On the other hand, the most pronounced monthly decreases in prices and with the greatest impact on the index were registered by gas production (-14.9%); the manufacture of paper pulp, paper and cardboard (-4.7%), and petroleum refining (-4.1%).
INDUSTRIAL INFLATION INCREASES IN 10 COMMUNITIES
The annual rate of the industrial price index increased in February in 10 autonomous communities and fell in seven, according to Statistics. The greatest increases with respect to the January rate occurred in the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands and Asturias, with increases of 10.5; 9.3 and 8.7 points, respectively.
In turn, the greatest decreases in the interannual rate occurred in the Basque Country (-4.7 points), Cantabria (-4.4 points) and Murcia (-1.8 points).
At the end of February, 15 communities presented positive industrial price rates. The highest annual rates were in Extremadura (11.4%), Castilla-La Mancha (11.1%) and Andalusia (10.9%), and the most moderate in Catalonia, Murcia and Castilla y León (9 .6% in each).
In contrast, three regions presented negative rates in their industrial prices at the end of February: Asturias (-4.5%), the Canary Islands (-2.1%) and the Balearic Islands (-1.8%).