7 May 2010

2010- n° 123

The prices of oil and raw materials continued to rise in April Prices of oil and raw material imports - April 2010

In April, the price of oil price rose again (+7.6% after +7.1% in March). The price of barrel stood at $84.8: in one year, it increased by 69.0%.

Prices for non-energy commodities imported by France also increased (+3.5% in foreign currencies, after +3.3% in March).

In April, the price of oil from the North Sea (Brent) increased again (+7.6% after +7.1% in March). Markets upwards revised their expectations for oil consumption in 2010. In euros, the increase was more pronounced (+8.9 %) due to the depreciation of euro vis-à-vis the dollar (-1.2 %).

In April, prices of industrial raw materials in foreign currencies increased again (+5.2%). Their rise over one year thus amounted to 65.4%. On the one hand, the prices of minerals increased (+5.0%), due to the sustained rise in prices of nonferrous metals (+5.4%). In particular, nickel prices jumped +15.9%. Similarly, the prices of precious metals were all higher (+5.4 %), and especially those of platinum (+7.1 %) and palladium (+15.3 %).

On the other hand, prices of agricultural raw materials accelerated (+5.6 % after +1.6% in March), includind wood pulp (+4.5%), hides of bovine (+10.0%) and wood sawn coniferous timber (+10.3%).

In April, prices of raw food in foreign currencies rebounded (+0.3% after -1.4% in March). The prices of tropical beverages also rebounded (+3.8% after -3.9% in March) due to rising prices of cocoa (+5.4%) and robusta (+5.5%). The price of beef meat increased (+7.1%). However, prices of cereals fell sharply (-6.3% with –8.8% for rice). Oilseeds and vegetable oils prices fell (-1.8%), particularly that of olive oil (-3.5%) and sunflower oil (.5.4%). Finally, the price of sugar continued to fall (-16.3 % after –27.6 in March) due to an increase in the production in Brazil, India and China.