8 March 2011

2011
In February 2011, prices of oil accelerated Prices of oil and raw material imports - February 2011

In February, price of oil in dollars accelerated (+7.4% after +5.1% in January), reaching $103.5 per barrel of Brent. Meanwhile, the foreign currency prices for non-energy com-modities imported in France continued to grow rapidly (+2.7% after +3.8% in January).

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Acceleration in oil price
Downturn in prices of imported industrial raw materials
The prices of raw food materials imported kept on rising

Warning : As every year in March, the weights have been updated for the current year, leading to a revision of the aggregate indexes for the month of January. Moreover, the sunflower oil was temporarily excluded from the price index of raw food materials imported, in the absence of data for the end of 2010.

In February, price of oil in dollars accelerated (+7.4% after +5.1% in January), reaching $103.5 per barrel of Brent. Meanwhile, the foreign currency prices for non-energy commodities imported in France continued to grow rapidly (+2.7% after +3.8% in January).

Acceleration in oil price

In February, prices in dollars of oil from the North Sea (Brent) accelerated (+7.4% after 5.1%). Indeed, the political tensions in the Middle East give fear tensions on supply while demand remains strong, and physical market keeps in deficit. In euros, the oil prices rose less strongly (+5.1% after 3.9%), due to the appreciation of European currency towards the dollar (+2.1).

Downturn in prices of imported industrial raw materials

In February, prices of industrial raw materials in foreign currencies slowed (+2.3% after +3.9%). On the hand, prices of the mineral raw materials continued to grow rapidly (+3.4% after 3.5%). Among the nonferrous metals (+4.2%), the prices of titanium (+10.2%) and nickel (+10.1%) strongly increased. Meanwhile, prices of precious metals accelerated (+4.1% after +2.6%), especially silver (+7.9% after -3.2%) and gold (+1.1% after -2.5%).

On the other hand, prices of agro-industrial raw materials fell (-0.7% after +5.3%): the prices of sawn wood of conifers declined(-6.0%) and the prices of natural rubber clearly decreased (+0.4% after +11.6%), even though prices of natural fiber textiles strongly increased (+17.8%).

The prices of raw food materials imported kept on rising

In February, prices of raw food in foreign currencies continued to rise (+3.3% after +3.9%), notably cereals (+4.1% after +0.4%) and tropical beverages (+9.2% after +5.7%), with the surge in cocoa prices (+11.2% after +4.1%) due to political tensions in Côte d’Ivoire. However, sugar prices fell (-1.1% after +3.0%), because of a better production than expected in Brazil and India.

tableautabpetrole – Oil and petroleum products

in dollar

Oil and petroleum products (in dollar)
	Prices	Change (%)
	of last month	over the last month	over the last 3 months	over the last 12 months
Brent in $ per barrel	103,5	7,4	21,4	40,6
Brent in € per barrel	75,8	5,1	21,3	40,9
Gasoline	877,1	4,7	14,0	27,9
Gas Oil	879,9	9,6	21,2	43,0
Heavy fuel	540,2	12,5	20,0	26,5
Naphta	876,8	2,9	12,4	29,4

Prices are in dollars per tonne unless otherwise specified
Source : INSEE

tableautabmatprem – Imported raw materials (excluding energy) in domestic currency

base 100 in 2000

Imported raw materials (excluding energy) in domestic currency (base 100 in 2000)
	Index	Changes (%)
	of last month	over last month	over the last 3 months	over the last 12 months
Food total	278,3	3,3	13,1	28,1
Tropical beverages	307,7	9,2	22,2	32,1
Oil seeds, vegetable oils	300,3	0,0	8,7	32,4
Cereals	289,5	4,1	11,0	27,1
Sugar	389,5	–1,1	9,8	19,3
Beef meat	154,9	1,6	12,2	19,4
Industrial raw materials	279,5	2,3	9,4	30,9
Agricultural raw materials	174,6	–0,7	7,3	17,6
Natural Fibers	400,7	17,8	35,3	145,8
Natural rubber	652,3	0,4	23,6	57,1
Hides	114,3	0,8	0,3	17,1
Wood pulp	139,8	0,7	0,1	13,3
Tropical wood	154,0	2,2	4,5	18,5
Sawn softwood	112,2	–6,0	5,1	0,6
Minerals	335,3	3,4	10,2	36,5
Iron ore	623,9	0,0	–1,3	77,9
Non-ferrous metals	301,3	4,2	12,9	31,1
Precious metals	400,5	4,1	11,3	46,0
All commodities	268,5	2,7	10,7	29,6