EU, eurozone chems producer prices continue upward trend in May

LONDON (ICIS)–Chemicals producer prices continued on an upward trend in May, rising by 2.6% in the EU and eurozone from the previous month, statistics agency Eurostat said on Friday.

May’s increase eased off from the previous two months but continued the positive momentum which began in the middle of last year as COVID-19 lockdown measures eased.

Manufacturing in the eurozone and UK is currently at the highest level in decades as easing lockdown measures galvanise demand, with rising inflation also a factor though this eased slightly in June.

Chemicals producers prices month-on-month change (%)	January	February	March	April	May
Eurozone	2.0	2.2	3.4	3.3	2.6
Germany	1.5	0.8	1.7	3.1	2.9
France	1.1	3.2	3.6	2.8	2.7
Italy	0.2	0.7	1.7	2.1	1.9
Spain	3.2	2.2	4.4	3.6	4.1
Netherlands	7.0	6.5	8.3	5.7	3.1
EU	2.0	2.2	3.4	3.3	2.6
Poland	1.7	1.6	2.8	2.6	1.0

On a year-on-year basis, chemicals producer prices were 19.1% higher in May in both the eurozone and EU, reflecting the the impact of the pandemic this time last year.

Chemicals producers prices year-on year change (%)	January	February	March	April	May
Eurozone	-1.2	1.2	6.5	14.0	19.1
Germany	-1.3	-0.5	1.8	7.3	12.2
France	-2.8	1.4	8.6	15.9	21.4
Italy	-1.0	-0.5	1.4	4.1	7.4
Spain	3.2	6.0	13.1	21.1	25.8
Netherlands	-4.0	2.7	19.5	46.5	57.5
EU	-0.9	1.5	6.6	14.0	19.1
Poland	2.0	3.8	6.2	9.7	11.7

General May industrial producer prices increased by 1.3% in the eurozone and 1.4% in the EU.

On a year-on-year basis they were 9.6% higher in both.

1. Euro area is the eurozone
2. As the EU is highly dependant on imports of energy, Eurostat publishes statistics for producer prices excluding the highly volatile, generally dollar-denominated energy imports