By Maria Martinez
The index of producer prices for industrial products in Germany rose 12.0% in August compared with the prior year, the German statistics office Destatis said Monday.
This was the highest year-on-year increase since December 1974, when prices rose strongly during the first oil crisis, Destatis said.
"Monday's figures suggest that the German industrial sector is continuing to feel the rippling effects of the global supply chain crisis," said Thomas Rinn, Accenture's global industrial lead.
Compared with the preceding month, the index rose by 1.5% in August.
The main drivers of the rise were prices of energy and intermediate products, the statistics office said.
Energy prices rose by 24.0% year-on-year, due to the strong increase in natural gas prices. The overall index after stripping out energy was up 8.3% on year in August, Destatis said.
Prices of intermediate goods increased by 17.1% compared with August 2020, Destatis said. Intermediate goods prices increased, particularly for metallic secondary raw materials and sawn timber, as well as wooden packaging materials and reinforcing steel in bars.
Prices of durable consumer goods rose 2.8% year-on-year, while capital goods, such as machines and vehicles, rose by 2.4%, Destatis said. Increasing prices for oils and fat led to growth in prices of non-durable consumer goods too, which increased by 2.1% compared to August 2020.
"Significant price increases across intermediate goods reflect the impact of essential component material shortages across key sectors of German industry and the significant hikes in freight costs," Mr. Rinn said.
With supply bottlenecks forecast to continue for the next few months, now is an imperative time for German industrial firms to reassess their logistics strategy, he said.
Write to Maria Martinez at maria.martinez@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
09-20-21 0411ET
