Fresh data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) indicates a 9.5% decrease in wholesale electricity prices for the month leading up to August, marking a 5.6% reduction in comparison to the corresponding month of the prior year. The Wholesale Price Index published on Friday revealed that electricity prices had plunged 74.1% below the maximum recorded in August 2022. The value index for all varieties of energy fuels also decreased by 0.2% in August, making a total fall of 4.5% for the year.
Changes were also noted in the food sector, as the producer prices saw a 2.2% fall over the past 12 months till August, whilst the food products, beverages, and tobacco index recorded a decline of 2%. The most significant modifications in the sector were recorded in fish and fish product prices with a spike of 7.7%, but the prices for grain milling, starches, and animal feeds slumped by 4.7%.
On a domestic level, producer prices for manufactured goods recorded an average increase of 0.9% in August as compared to last year, while the export goods had a fall of 1.9% in their producer prices. The year saw overall manufacturing producer prices fall by a significant 1.7%.
There was an eyecatching rise of 22.9% in the producer prices for chemicals and chemical products in the year to August, while wood and wood products and printing and reproduction of recorded media prices experienced a decrease of 7.9% and 5.8% respectively.
Wholesale prices pertaining to construction products fell slightly by 0.2% in the month of August but saw an annual increase of 0.3%. The construction sector also saw the “all materials index” go down 0.2% in August but then rise 0.3% on a yearly basis. Meanwhile, the building and construction index, which includes materials and wages, climbed 1.4% in the month, culminating in an annual increase of 2.5%.
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