Industrial production prices in Romania edged up by nearly 0.1% in the last two months of 2013 but this was not enough to change the downward performance over the past year, ending in December, when the price index inched down 0.1% y/y, data from the statistics office reveal.

The annual performance dropped to a negative 0.3% y/y in October, on a combination of local currency strengthening, weak demand for capital goods on local market and moderate energy prices.

The prices reported for deals on foreign markets decreased by 2.2% y/y as of December, remaining in the negative area for a ninth month in a row. The local currency’s slight nominal strengthening explains part of the pattern, likely to reverse however as revealed by the data in the last months of 2013.

The industrial prices on the local market increased by 1% y/y in December, maintaining roughly the same annual growth from November and October.

In terms of industrial sectors, the prices of manufactured goods display the steepest negative performance - minus 1.5% y/y. On the opposite, utility prices went up - by 11.2% y/y for water and sewage and 5.2% y/y for electricity. Notably the prices in the mining and quarrying sector accelerated gradually to a more robust rise of 6.2% y/y in December from 0.5% y/y in June.

In terms of types of goods, the capital goods marked a visible contraction of 1.3% y/y as of December. Nonetheless, the capital goods’ prices returned to an upward pattern in H2, resulting in the stabilisation of the overall industrial price index.