5 February 2010

2010- n° 40

The prices of oil and raw materials rose in January Prices of oil and raw material imports - January 2010

In January, oil price rose 2.4% after falling 2.9% in December. The price of barrel settled at $76.2; compared to January 2009, it rose by 73.8%.

Prices for non-energy commodities imported by France rose again (+3.3% after +4.6% in December).

In January, the price of oil from the North Sea (Brent) increased again (+2.4% after -2.9% in December). The harsh winter in the Northern Hemisphere has supported oil prices. In euros, the increase was more pronounced (+4.5 %) due to the depreciation of the euro vis-à-vis the dollar (-2.1 %).

In January, prices of industrial materials in foreign currencies increased again (+4.2% after +5.3% in December). On the one hand, the prices of minerals increased by +4.0%), driven by higher prices of non-ferrous metals (+4.2%), including titanium (+10.6%), nickel (+7.6%) and copper (+5.7%). Similary, the prices of precious metals appreciated strongly (+6.6 %): increases in the prices of palladium (+15.8 %) and platinum (+8.3 %) outweighed the fall in gold (–1.5 %).

On the other hand, the prices of agro-industrial materials continued to grow (+4.7 %), includind wool (+8.6), natural rubber (+7.4 %) and wood sawn coniferous (+5.7 %).

In January, prices of raw food in foreign currencies declined (-0.9% after +3.0% in December). The prices of tropical beverages fell to 2.5 % (after +4.0 % in December) due to a fall of 15.1 % of the price of tea: a more favorable weather than expected generated an excess production of tea in Kenya. Oilseeds prices declined also (-1.9 %), in conjunction with the falling prices of olive oil (-3.0 %) and soybean (-4.7 % for soybeans and -3.0 % for soybean meal). However, prices of cereals stagnated (+0.0 %). Finally, sugar prices rose sharply (+14.0 %) because of lower production in Brazil and India.