Slovakia’s industrial producer prices fell on annual basis for the eleventh straight month in January 2014 declining by 3%, compared to a 2.3% fall in December, data from the statistics office showed.

Industrial producer prices on the domestic market decreased by 2.5% y/y in January, after falling 1.7% y/y the month before. The steepest drop was recorded in coke and refined petroleum products, where prices fell 7.1% y/y, following a 6.3% annual drop in December.

Export producer prices fell 3.4% in January after decreasing 2.7% in December.

Producer prices are a key preliminary indicator for the dynamics in consumer prices, so the data suggests that consumer inflation would remain muted in the near term. In January, Slovakia’s recorded a zero headline inflation.

On a monthly basis, producer prices fell by 0.5% in January, after edging down by 0.3% in December. On the domestic market, prices were also 0.5% lower than in December, when they dropped by 0.1% m/m. Export prices moved down by 0.6% m/m in January, following a 0.4% decrease a month earlier.

Agricultural producer prices decreased by 10.4% y/y in January, the same level as in December. Crop prices went down by 12.1% y/y, compared to a 16.2% y/y decline in the last month of 2013. Prices of animal products fell 0.4% y/y last month, following a 2.6% y/y decline in December.

Prices of construction works rose 1.3% y/y in January, while prices of construction materials and components dipped 2% y/y.