Eurozone October Chemical Producer Prices Increase 4.1% Year on Year

Chemical producer prices in the eurozone and the EU rose 4.1% and 4.5% respectively year on year in October, the European statistical agency Eurostat said on Monday.

Chemical producers posted increasing selling prices in most major markets during October, compared to the same month a year earlier, with Germany's prices up 3.4% and France's up 5.1%.

Prices in Italy and Spain rose 2.7% and 3.2% respectively year on year, while the chemical and petrochemical hub of the Netherlands posted prices up by 8.7%.

In Finland, where the pulp and paper industry is a main end market for chemicals, prices went up by 0.9% year on year in October, and in Poland, the largest chemical producer in eastern Europe, prices increased by 7.3%.

Outside the eurozone but within the EU, chemical producer prices in the UK rose in October by 5.9% year on year.

Month on month, chemical producer prices increased by 0.5% during October in both the 19-country eurozone and the wider 28-country EU.

Industrial producer prices as a whole also rose in October month on month and year on year.

In October, compared with September, industrial producer prices rose by 0.4% in both the eurozone and the EU, said Eurostat. The increase stands close to September’s 0.5% increase, compared to August.

“In October 2017, compared with October 2016, industrial producer prices rose by 2.5% in the eurozone and by 2.6% in the EU,” concluded Eurostat.