Slovakia’s industrial producer prices moved lower on annual basis for the ninth straight month in November 2013 declining by 2.3%, deepening from a 2.1% fall in October, data from the statistics office showed. This was the steepest annual decline in producer prices registered since March 2010, when producer prices fell by 2.5% y/y.

Industrial producer prices on the domestic market decreased by 2% in November, following a 1.4% y/y decline the month before. The biggest drop was recorded in coke and refined petroleum products, where prices fell 10.6% y/y, following a 11.7% annual drop in October.

Export producer prices fell 2.5% in November after decreasing 2.6% in the previous month.

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 November, Slovakia’s annual headline inflation eased to 0.5% from 0.6% the month before.

On a monthly basis, producer prices edged down by 0.6% in November after a 0.3% drop in October. On the domestic market, prices were 0.7% lower than in October when they edged down by 0.3% m/m. Export prices moved down by 0.5% m/m in November after falling 0.3% a month earlier.

Agricultural producer prices decreased by 16.3% y/y in November following a 9.8% y/y decline the month before. Crop prices went down by 25.3% y/y, compared to a 13.8% y/y decline in October. The prices of animal products fell 1.8% y/y last month, following a 0.3% y/y decline in October.

Prices of construction works rose 0.9% y/y in November, while prices of construction materials and components dipped 2.3% y/y.