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Combine harvester on a grain field: In agriculture, too, the costs for fertilizer, for example, are rising sharply
Photo: Christoph Schmidt / dpa
Natural gas, butter, fertilizer: German producers raised their prices at record speed in February, even before the Russian attack on Ukraine.
Producer prices for commercial products rose by 25.9 percent compared to February 2021 due to expensive energy and ongoing supply bottlenecks.
"This was the strongest increase since the survey began in 1949," said the Federal Statistical Office.
In January, the rate was already 25.0 percent.
"The current price developments in connection with Russia's attack on Ukraine are not yet included in the results," the official statisticians note.
Consumers must therefore continue to be prepared for high inflation.
Because trade is likely to pass on at least part of the higher producer prices.
The Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW) does not expect prices to normalize for the time being, also because of the war in Ukraine.
"The inflation rate this year, at 5.8 percent, is likely to be higher than ever before in reunified Germany," says the current forecast.
According to experts, the effects of the war that Russia is waging against Ukraine will gradually begin to be felt from March onwards.
“Commodity prices are increasing across the board,” said Commerzbank economist Christoph Balz.
"Consequently, the supply bottlenecks are likely to continue to weigh on the economy and push up inflation."
According to the statisticians, the main reason for the sharp rise in producer prices in February was again energy.
They rose in price by an average of 68.0 percent.
Natural gas cost 125.4 percent more than in February 2021, electricity two-thirds and light heating oil 56.9 percent more.
Excluding energy, producer prices were still 12.4 percent above the previous year's value.
For food, the premium was 9.2 percent.
Prices rose particularly sharply by 50.1 percent for untreated vegetable oils, butter (+64.4 percent) and coffee (+16.9 percent).
Fertilizers and nitrogen compounds cost 71.7 percent more, paper and cardboard were 44.5 percent more expensive than a year earlier.
fdi/Reuters
