Fuel prices keep producer prices down

Producer prices fell in the March 2016 quarter, mainly influenced by fuel prices. Output prices fell 0.2 percent, and input prices fell 1.0 percent.

Fuel prices keep producer prices down – Media release

18 May 2016

The costs paid by fuel manufacturers have fallen by more than half since mid-2012, mainly due to falls in crude oil prices, Statistics New Zealand said today.

“The petroleum and coal product manufacturing industry makes a broad range of fuel products, including petrol, diesel, and aviation fuel,” business prices manager Sarah Williams said.

Input prices (costs paid) for the petroleum and coal product manufacturing industry fell 22 percent in the March 2016 quarter. Over the same period, the prices received by these manufacturers (outputs) fell 18 percent.

“The output of this industry is an important input to many other industries,” Sarah Williams said. “For example, price falls in fuel contributed to a lower cost of production for the transport and construction industries.”

Changes in fuel prices also affect farmers. These changes had a downward influence on the input costs for farmers, which fell 0.3 percent in the March quarter.

Ultimately these price changes affect what we pay as households. For example, petrol prices fell 7.7 percent, as measured by the consumers price index (CPI).

See Business Price Indexes: March 2016 quarter for more information.

ENDS

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