Informations rapides
20 March 2019
2019- n° 66
In February, oil prices accelerated Prices of oil and raw material imports - February 2019

In February 2019, the price of oil in euros increased more than in January (+8.3 % after +4.3 % in January). The prices in euros of imported commodities (excluding energy) accelerated too (+4.0 % after +0.9 %). Indeed,the prices of industrial raw materials bounced back clearly (+8.2% after −0.1 %) while those of raw food materials fell back (−0.2 % after +1.7 %).

Informations rapides
No 66
Paru le :Paru le20/03/2019

In February 2019, the price of oil in euros increased more than in January (+8.3 % after +4.3 % in January). The prices in euros of imported commodities (excluding energy) accelerated too (+4.0 % after +0.9 %). Indeed,the prices of industrial raw materials bounced back clearly (+8.2% after −0.1 %) while those of raw food materials fell back (−0.2 % after +1.7 %).

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 87.5
2016-01 72.3 87.0
2016-02 74.3 87.5
2016-03 77.7 91.5
2016-04 80.4 92.7
2016-05 80.0 92.4
2016-06 82.1 95.6
2016-07 84.4 99.7
2016-08 84.1 98.0
2016-09 83.0 96.7
2016-10 83.7 99.2
2016-11 89.2 107.8
2016-12 90.2 111.6
2017-01 92.0 113.2
2017-02 95.1 116.6
2017-03 94.4 115.5
2017-04 89.9 109.6
2017-05 88.9 105.2
2017-06 88.6 103.2
2017-07 91.8 104.2
2017-08 93.0 103.0
2017-09 91.2 100.0
2017-10 89.4 99.3
2017-11 90.1 100.4
2017-12 90.4 99.8
2018-01 93.5 100.3
2018-02 94.9 100.6
2018-03 94.0 99.7
2018-04 93.8 99.9
2018-05 95.2 105.3
2018-06 94.8 106.2
2018-07 90.7 101.4
2018-08 87.9 99.5
2018-09 86.6 97.1
2018-10 89.7 101.8
2018-11 88.9 101.9
2018-12 87.0 99.5
2019-01 88.7 101.3
2019-02 91.3 105.3

Imported raw materials (excluding energy)

  • Source: INSEE.

Oil prices increased again

In February2019, the price of North Sea crude oil (Brent) in euros accelerated (+8.3 % after +4.3 % in January) to an average of €56 per barrel. In dollars, the increase was less marked (+7.7 % after +5.1 %).

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

Oil (Brent)

  • Source: INSEE.

Oil and petroleum products

Oil and petroleum products
prices Changes (%)
of lost months over the last month over the last 3 months over the last 12 months
Brent in $ oer barrel 64.0 7.7 -1.2 -2.1
Brent in € per barrel 56.4 8.3 -1.1 6.5
Gasoline cts €/$ 36.4 10.4 -3.9 -6.4
Gas Oil 529.0 8.0 -4.5 12.8
Heavy fuel 372.1 12.5 -2.4 15.9
Naphtha 432.3 7.6 -6.3 -3.5
  • Prices are in euros per tonne unless otherwise specified
  • Source : Insee

Industrial commodity prices slipped back

In February 2019, the prices of industrial raw materials bounced back clearly (+8.2 % after −0.1 % in January). The prices of mineral materials increased (+9.4 % after +0.4 %), mainly due to non-ferrous metals (+4.2 % after −2.8 %) and ferrous metals (+16.2 % after +9.2 %). Indeed, after themining disaster in Bresil at the end of January, iron ore prices surged. However, the prices of precious metals slowed down(+3.0 % after +4.0 %). The prices of agricultural raw materials recovered (+1.9 % after −1.8 %), because of sawn softwood (+21.8 % after +4.2 %). The price of tropical wood increased slightly (+1.5 % after +1.3 %) and the price of natural rubber eased (+3.4 % after +6.9 %). The price of wood pulp decreased less than in January(−2.1 % after −2.8 %), as well as natural fibres (−1.7 % after −4.3 %) and hide (−8.4 % after −8.5 %).

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 84.4
2014-12 76.3 81.7
2015-01 72.3 82.2
2015-02 70.0 81.5
2015-03 67.6 82.3
2015-04 66.0 80.9
2015-05 69.1 81.6
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 70.1
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 60.7 70.7
2016-06 60.2 70.5
2016-07 63.6 75.7
2016-08 65.0 76.4
2016-09 63.2 74.2
2016-10 64.4 76.8
2016-11 71.7 87.3
2016-12 74.8 93.2
2017-01 75.1 93.0
2017-02 80.1 98.9
2017-03 79.4 97.6
2017-04 73.9 90.7
2017-05 70.4 83.8
2017-06 68.6 80.4
2017-07 73.1 83.6
2017-08 78.3 87.4
2017-09 78.4 86.6
2017-10 76.3 85.4
2017-11 77.6 87.1
2017-12 79.7 88.7
2018-01 83.9 90.7
2018-02 84.7 90.3
2018-03 80.7 86.2
2018-04 80.8 86.8
2018-05 82.0 91.4
2018-06 81.7 92.2
2018-07 77.8 87.7
2018-08 76.8 87.6
2018-09 76.2 86.1
2018-10 77.9 89.3
2018-11 76.8 88.9
2018-12 74.9 86.6
2019-01 76.6 88.3
2019-02 82.3 95.5

Industrial raw materials

  • Source: INSEE.

Food commodity prices fell back slightly

In euros, the prices of imported raw food materials fell backslightly (−0.2 % after +1.7 %) like tropical foodstuffs prices (−1.7 % after +2.0 %), meats prices (−2.2 % after +4.0 %) and cereals prices (-0.8 % after +1.5 %). The prices of oil seeds and vegetable oils were virtually stable (−0.1% after 0.0 %). However, the price of sugar accelerated (+2.4 % after +0.5 %) as those of seafood products (+2.4 % after +0.6 %).

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
2017-08 111.4 122.8
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
2018-06 111.1 123.6
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
2019-01 103.8 117.4
2019-02 102.1 117.2

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 117.2 -0.2 -0.7 3.7
Tropical foodstuffs 90.7 -1.7 -5.1 -0.9
Oil seeds, vegetable oils 100.8 -0.1 -1.9 -9.5
Cereals 98.9 -0.8 1.5 7.4
Sugar 67.8 2.4 0.9 3.6
Meat 145.5 -2.2 1.3 2.8
Seafood products 127.2 2.4 1.0 20.4
Industrial raw materials 95.5 8.2 7.5 5.7
Agricultural raw materials 117.9 1.9 -1.8 0.0
Natural Fibres 99.9 -1.7 -6.1 0.4
Natural rubber 48.6 3.4 12.6 3.5
Hides 56.9 -8.4 -16.6 -28.7
Wood pulp 143.9 -2.1 -6.5 17.5
Tropical wood 97.4 1.5 1.0 1.2
Sawn softwood 185.8 21.8 20.4 -15.6
Minerals 90.6 9.4 9.4 6.8
Ferrous metals 72.9 16.2 19.9 24.0
Non-ferrous metals 100.1 4.2 0.3 -6.5
Precious metals 112.6 3.0 9.4 8.0
All commodities 105.3 4.0 3.4 4.7
  • Source : INSEE

For further information :

The relevant time series and a userguide 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: 12 April 2019 at 12.00 pm

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