Informations rapides
22 April 2020
2020- n° 99
In March 2020, oil price plummeted heavily, at its lowest level since January 2016 Prices of oil and raw material imports - March 2020

In March 2020, the prices of oil in euros plummeted (−47.3% after −10.9%). This was the fastest fall observed for more than 60 years. The prices in euros of imported commodities (excluding energy) decreased way more slightly (−3.9% after −0.4%). Indeed, the prices of industrial raw materials decreased again (−4.4% after −2.2%) and those of raw food materials fell back (−3.4% after +1.4%).

Informations rapides
No 99
Paru le :Paru le22/04/2020
Avertissement:

The last value of rapeseed oil is not available. February data has been attributed for March.

In March 2020, the prices of oil in euros plummeted (−47.3% after −10.9%). This was the fastest fall observed for more than 60 years. The prices in euros of imported commodities (excluding energy) decreased way more slightly (−3.9% after −0.4%). Indeed, the prices of industrial raw materials decreased again (−4.4% after −2.2%) and those of raw food materials fell back (−3.4% after +1.4%).

Imported raw materials (excluding energy)

index 2000=100
Imported raw materials (excluding energy) (index 2000=100)
Prices in foreign currencies Prices in euros
2013-01 106.6 106.6
2013-02 107.9 107.3
2013-03 104.8 107.1
2013-04 103.7 105.6
2013-05 102.4 104.5
2013-06 99.9 100.5
2013-07 102.1 103.4
2013-08 102.8 102.5
2013-09 100.0 99.5
2013-10 100.4 98.0
2013-11 100.9 99.4
2013-12 103.5 100.7
2014-01 102.8 100.4
2014-02 103.2 100.5
2014-03 104.8 100.9
2014-04 106.5 102.7
2014-05 103.3 100.1
2014-06 101.0 98.8
2014-07 103.0 101.1
2014-08 101.8 101.5
2014-09 98.0 100.7
2014-10 96.2 100.4
2014-11 95.7 101.3
2014-12 93.3 99.7
2015-01 89.6 101.1
2015-02 86.8 100.2
2015-03 83.9 101.4
2015-04 82.6 100.4
2015-05 84.1 98.7
2015-06 83.3 97.4
2015-07 80.4 95.7
2015-08 79.1 92.9
2015-09 78.1 91.0
2015-10 77.4 90.0
2015-11 74.4 90.3
2015-12 72.9 87.4
2016-01 72.3 87.1
2016-02 74.3 87.6
2016-03 77.7 91.6
2016-04 80.4 92.8
2016-05 80.1 92.5
2016-06 82.1 95.6
2016-07 84.4 99.8
2016-08 84.1 98.1
2016-09 83.0 96.8
2016-10 83.7 99.3
2016-11 89.2 107.8
2016-12 90.3 111.7
2017-01 92.1 113.3
2017-02 95.1 116.7
2017-03 94.5 115.5
2017-04 90.0 109.6
2017-05 89.0 105.3
2017-06 88.6 103.2
2017-07 91.8 104.2
2017-08 93.0 103.0
2017-09 91.3 100.1
2017-10 89.5 99.5
2017-11 90.2 100.6
2017-12 90.5 100.0
2018-01 93.5 100.3
2018-02 95.0 100.7
2018-03 94.1 99.9
2018-04 93.9 100.2
2018-05 95.3 105.5
2018-06 95.0 106.4
2018-07 90.7 101.5
2018-08 87.9 99.5
2018-09 86.6 97.1
2018-10 89.7 101.9
2018-11 88.8 101.9
2018-12 86.9 99.5
2019-01 88.8 101.4
2019-02 91.3 105.3
2019-03 90.8 104.7
2019-04 92.9 107.9
2019-05 92.0 107.3
2019-06 94.1 108.6
2019-07 95.9 111.5
2019-08 89.1 104.5
2019-09 88.5 104.9
2019-10 88.1 103.9
2019-11 88.8 104.7
2019-12 91.5 107.4
2020-01 91.7 108.1
2020-02 89.4 106.9
2020-03 87.2 102.7

Imported raw materials (excluding energy)

  • Source: INSEE.

Oil prices plummeted heavily

In March 2020, the prices of North Sea crude oil (Brent) in euros dropped hardly (−47.3% after −10.9%) to an average of €29 per barrel, its lowest level since January 2016. In dollars, the drop was the same magnitude (−42.7% after −12.5%).

Oil (Brent)

price per barrel
Oil (Brent) (price per barrel)
Prices in dollars Prices in euros
2013-01 112.0 84.3
2013-02 116.4 87.1
2013-03 109.7 84.6
2013-04 103.8 79.5
2013-05 103.0 79.4
2013-06 102.8 78.0
2013-07 107.7 82.3
2013-08 110.1 82.8
2013-09 111.6 83.6
2013-10 109.4 80.2
2013-11 107.7 79.9
2013-12 110.7 80.7
2014-01 107.6 79.0
2014-02 108.7 79.6
2014-03 107.9 78.0
2014-04 108.0 78.1
2014-05 109.2 79.6
2014-06 111.9 82.3
2014-07 108.6 80.2
2014-08 103.5 77.7
2014-09 98.9 76.7
2014-10 88.7 70.0
2014-11 80.8 64.8
2014-12 64.2 52.2
2015-01 50.1 43.1
2015-02 58.2 51.3
2015-03 57.3 52.8
2015-04 59.5 55.4
2015-05 64.1 57.5
2015-06 61.5 54.8
2015-07 56.6 51.4
2015-08 46.6 41.9
2015-09 47.6 42.4
2015-10 48.4 43.1
2015-11 44.3 41.2
2015-12 38.0 35.0
2016-01 30.7 28.3
2016-02 32.2 29.0
2016-03 38.2 34.4
2016-04 41.6 36.7
2016-05 46.7 41.3
2016-06 48.2 43.0
2016-07 45.3 41.0
2016-08 46.8 41.8
2016-09 47.7 42.5
2016-10 51.4 46.6
2016-11 47.1 43.7
2016-12 54.9 52.1
2017-01 55.4 52.2
2017-02 56.0 52.6
2017-03 52.6 49.2
2017-04 53.8 50.1
2017-05 51.4 46.5
2017-06 47.6 42.4
2017-07 49.1 42.6
2017-08 51.9 44.0
2017-09 55.5 46.6
2017-10 57.5 48.9
2017-11 62.7 53.4
2017-12 64.4 54.4
2018-01 69.1 56.6
2018-02 65.3 52.9
2018-03 66.0 53.5
2018-04 72.0 58.7
2018-05 76.9 65.2
2018-06 74.4 63.7
2018-07 74.3 63.5
2018-08 72.5 62.8
2018-09 78.9 67.7
2018-10 81.0 70.6
2018-11 64.7 57.0
2018-12 56.5 49.8
2019-01 59.4 52.0
2019-02 64.0 56.4
2019-03 66.1 58.5
2019-04 71.2 63.4
2019-05 71.2 63.6
2019-06 64.3 56.9
2019-07 63.9 57.0
2019-08 59.0 53.1
2019-09 62.8 57.1
2019-10 59.7 54.0
2019-11 63.2 57.2
2019-12 67.2 60.4
2020-01 63.6 57.3
2020-02 55.7 51.1
2020-03 31.9 28.8

Oil (Brent)

  • Source: INSEE.

Petroleum

Petroleum
prices Changes (%)
of lost months over the last month over the last 3 months over the last 12 months
Brent in $ per barrel 31.9 -42.7 -52.5 -51.7
Brent in € per barrel 28.8 -43.7 -52.4 -50.8
Gasoline cts €/$ 21.2 -44.8 -47.8 -50.0
Gas Oil 312.0 -31.2 -42.1 -42.3
Heavy fuel 199.8 -28.0 -22.0 -47.5
Naphtha 269.1 -37.1 -44.2 -42.7
  • Prices are in euros per tonne unless otherwise specified
  • Source : Insee

Industrial commodity prices decreased again

In March 2020, the prices of industrial raw materials decreased again (−4.4% after −2.2%) driven by mineral materials prices (−4.7% after −4.6%), of which those of non ferrous metals (−8.0% after −4.1%). The prices of precious metals fell back (−7.7% after +4.0%) and those of ferrous metals were virtually stable . The prices of agricultural raw materials fell back clearly (−2.7% after +9.4%). Those of tropical wood decreased (−5.8% after +0.9%) as those of as sawn softwood (−1.4% after +1.8%) and hide (−9.5% after +1.8%). The prices of natural textile fibres decreased again (−10.4% after−1.3%) as well as natural rubber (−10.1% after −7.1%). The price of pulp increased less than in February (+1.8% after +21.8%).

Industrial raw materials

index 2000=100
Industrial raw materials (index 2000=100)
Prices in foreign currencies Prices in euros
2013-01 103.0 103.0
2013-02 104.8 104.0
2013-03 98.5 100.8
2013-04 95.3 97.1
2013-05 90.4 92.4
2013-06 86.5 87.0
2013-07 89.0 90.2
2013-08 93.3 92.9
2013-09 92.1 91.5
2013-10 92.5 90.0
2013-11 93.3 91.6
2013-12 93.3 90.2
2014-01 91.5 89.0
2014-02 89.2 86.5
2014-03 86.7 83.0
2014-04 88.4 84.7
2014-05 85.1 82.2
2014-06 83.6 81.4
2014-07 86.8 84.9
2014-08 86.5 86.0
2014-09 82.8 85.0
2014-10 80.7 84.3
2014-11 79.5 84.3
2014-12 76.3 81.8
2015-01 72.3 82.2
2015-02 70.0 81.5
2015-03 67.6 82.4
2015-04 66.0 80.9
2015-05 69.1 81.7
2015-06 67.7 79.7
2015-07 62.5 74.9
2015-08 61.1 72.2
2015-09 61.4 72.0
2015-10 59.9 70.2
2015-11 55.8 68.3
2015-12 53.7 64.9
2016-01 53.1 64.3
2016-02 55.9 66.3
2016-03 60.4 71.7
2016-04 62.7 72.9
2016-05 60.8 70.8
2016-06 60.2 70.6
2016-07 63.6 75.7
2016-08 65.0 76.4
2016-09 63.2 74.3
2016-10 64.4 76.9
2016-11 71.7 87.4
2016-12 74.9 93.3
2017-01 75.2 93.1
2017-02 80.2 99.0
2017-03 79.4 97.8
2017-04 74.0 90.8
2017-05 70.5 84.0
2017-06 68.6 80.4
2017-07 73.1 83.6
2017-08 78.3 87.4
2017-09 78.5 86.8
2017-10 76.5 85.7
2017-11 77.8 87.3
2017-12 79.9 89.0
2018-01 84.0 90.8
2018-02 84.8 90.5
2018-03 81.0 86.5
2018-04 81.1 87.1
2018-05 82.3 91.8
2018-06 81.9 92.4
2018-07 77.8 87.8
2018-08 76.8 87.6
2018-09 76.2 86.1
2018-10 77.9 89.3
2018-11 76.7 88.9
2018-12 74.8 86.5
2019-01 76.7 88.5
2019-02 82.3 95.5
2019-03 81.8 95.3
2019-04 83.6 97.9
2019-05 83.5 98.3
2019-06 86.0 100.3
2019-07 90.2 105.9
2019-08 79.9 94.5
2019-09 80.5 96.3
2019-10 78.5 93.6
2019-11 77.3 92.0
2019-12 80.0 94.8
2020-01 81.1 96.3
2020-02 76.8 92.7
2020-03 74.5 88.6

Industrial raw materials

  • Source: INSEE.

Food commodity prices fell back

In euros, the prices of imported raw food materials fell back (−3.4% after +1.4%) like the prices of seafood products (−6.0% after +8.6%) and sugar (−22.8% after +7.9%). The prices of oil seeds and vegetable oils decreased again (−2.4% after−0.9%) as well as those of tropical foodstuffs (−2.8% after −0.5%). Only the prices of meats (+0.3% after−3.5%) and cereals (+2.9% after +0.5%) increased.

Food

index 2000=100
Food (index 2000=100)
Prices in foreign currencies Prices in euros
2013-01 111.4 111.5
2013-02 112.2 111.8
2013-03 112.9 115.2
2013-04 114.5 116.4
2013-05 117.7 120.0
2013-06 117.0 117.8
2013-07 118.6 120.2
2013-08 114.8 114.8
2013-09 110.2 109.8
2013-10 110.6 108.3
2013-11 110.6 109.4
2013-12 116.5 114.1
2014-01 117.0 114.8
2014-02 120.6 118.0
2014-03 127.3 123.3
2014-04 129.2 125.2
2014-05 125.9 122.4
2014-06 122.7 120.4
2014-07 123.1 121.3
2014-08 121.0 120.9
2014-09 117.1 120.2
2014-10 115.6 120.6
2014-11 115.8 122.4
2014-12 114.4 122.0
2015-01 111.4 125.0
2015-02 108.1 123.8
2015-03 104.6 125.5
2015-04 103.6 125.1
2015-05 102.9 120.1
2015-06 102.9 119.7
2015-07 103.4 122.3
2015-08 102.3 119.5
2015-09 99.4 115.3
2015-10 99.7 115.4
2015-11 98.3 118.6
2015-12 97.7 116.6
2016-01 97.6 116.9
2016-02 98.3 115.2
2016-03 99.9 117.0
2016-04 103.1 118.2
2016-05 105.1 120.5
2016-06 111.1 128.5
2016-07 111.5 131.1
2016-08 108.8 125.9
2016-09 108.7 125.9
2016-10 108.8 128.2
2016-11 111.3 133.5
2016-12 109.1 134.3
2017-01 113.5 139.0
2017-02 113.8 138.9
2017-03 113.3 137.9
2017-04 110.3 133.6
2017-05 112.7 132.6
2017-06 114.5 132.6
2017-07 115.7 130.6
2017-08 111.4 122.7
2017-09 107.1 116.7
2017-10 105.7 116.8
2017-11 105.7 117.0
2017-12 103.4 113.5
2018-01 104.8 111.8
2018-02 107.2 113.0
2018-03 110.5 116.5
2018-04 109.8 116.3
2018-05 111.5 122.5
2018-06 111.2 123.6
2018-07 106.6 118.5
2018-08 101.4 114.1
2018-09 99.2 110.5
2018-10 104.3 117.3
2018-11 103.8 118.0
2018-12 101.9 115.5
2019-01 103.7 117.4
2019-02 102.1 117.2
2019-03 101.6 116.1
2019-04 104.0 119.9
2019-05 102.2 118.1
2019-06 103.6 118.5
2019-07 102.1 117.7
2019-08 100.2 116.5
2019-09 98.1 115.2
2019-10 99.5 116.5
2019-11 102.9 120.3
2019-12 105.6 122.8
2020-01 104.4 122.4
2020-02 104.7 124.1
2020-03 102.5 119.9

Food

  • Source: INSEE.

Imported raw materials (excluding energy) in euros

Base 100 in 2010
Imported raw materials (excluding energy) in euros (Base 100 in 2010)
Index of las month changes (in%)
over the last month over the last 3 months over the last 12 months
Food total 119.9 -3.4 -2.4 3.2
Tropical foodstuffs 97.4 -2.8 -7.7 10.4
Oil seeds, vegetable oils 102.5 -2.4 -2.6 2.8
Cereals 112.3 2.9 8.0 15.2
Sugar 63.7 -22.8 -10.9 -3.4
Meat 140.4 0.3 -1.5 -4.8
Seafood products 130.3 -6.0 1.0 3.4
Industrial raw materials 88.6 -4.4 -6.5 -7.0
Agricultural raw materials 95.9 -2.7 -1.2 -16.1
Natural Fibres 89.5 -10.4 -8.2 -16.5
Natural rubber 43.8 -10.1 -15.8 -15.4
Hides 49.4 -9.5 -2.8 -16.6
Wood pulp 108.2 1.8 3.1 -20.5
Tropical wood 95.2 -5.8 -5.0 -3.9
Sawn softwood 156.1 -1.4 0.5 -8.4
Minerals 86.1 -4.7 -7.3 -5.3
Ferrous metals 74.8 0.2 -3.2 4.5
Non-ferrous metals 86.0 -8.0 -11.5 -16.2
Precious metals 131.0 -7.7 1.5 17.5
All commodities 102.7 -3.9 -4.3 -1.9
  • Source : INSEE

For further information :

The relevant time series and a user guide are available at the bottom of this page.

Crude oil: from 1986, the price of Brent gradually established as a representative reference price of European supplies.

Petroleum products: prices of petroleum are quotations from the Rotterdam market which supplies European market.

Indices of non-energy raw materials imported by France: the indices calculated by INSEE are monthly averages of raw materials prices, weighted by their share in the French imports of raw materials (2010 = 100).

Next issue: 20 May 2020 at 12.00 pm

Pour en savoir plus

: bureau-de-presse@insee.fr