Producer price index, 15 October 2005

Prices within oil and gas extraction continued to decline with a 3.9 per cent decrease from September to October. The prices are back to the level before the hurricanes hit the USA and the Gulf of Mexico in August.

Manufacturing prices decreased by 0.5 per cent from September to October. Prices of refined petroleum products fell by 5.2 per cent. Prices increased for some other main industries - among them basic metals that went up by 2.4 per cent. Non-ferrous metals increased by 3.2 per cent from September. Prices of electricity increased by 4.8 per cent.

Producer prices increased by 4.6 per cent in the domestic market. This rice of prices was lower compared to the total export- and domestic market - mainly because the oil is lower weighted at the domestic market.

12-month rate, October 2004 to October 2005: Increase of 10.1 per cent in producer prices

The prices within oil and gas extraction increased by 15.3 per cent and were the largest contributor to the general price increase during the last 12 months. Manufacturing, mining and quarrying have increased by 6.1 per cent. Among the main manufacturing industries the 12-month rate of refined petroleum products has increased by 36.3 per cent, while the prices of food products have increased by 4.5 per cent. The largest declines are recorded in prices of electrical and optical equipment, which declined by 3.7 per cent. Wood processing and printing fell by 3.2 per cent during the period. Electricity, gas and steam supply decreased by 2.3 per cent from October 2004 to October 2005.

Commodity price index for industrial sectors

As announced previously, the articles for the Producer Price Index and the Commodity Price Index for the industrial sectors are now coordinated. The web pages for both surveys will remain the same for the time being - http://www.ssb.no/ppi_en and http://www.ssb.no/vppi_en .