German import prices climb further in April as US-Iran conflict continues to reverberate

• Import prices +1.2% vs +1.1% m/m expected
• Prior +3.6%

The annual change shows that German import prices were seen up by 5.3% compared to April last year. That represents the strongest year-on-year increase since January 2023. After the spike in March, we’re seeing a continued rise in import prices as the fallout from the Middle East conflict continues.

That is leading to a further surge in energy prices but also the prices for intermediate goods. The former was up 2.8% on the month and 31.0% year-on-year. Meanwhile, the latter is up 2.4% on the month and 7.8% year-on-year. So, those two are the biggest contributors to the rise in import prices for April.

Among intermediate goods, non-ferrous metals and their semi-finished products were significantly more expensive. And adding to that, prices for imported fertilizers and nitrogen compounds were also considerably higher compared to the month before (+7.6%).

Even when excluding energy prices, import prices were still up by 1.0% on the month and 2.8% compared to April last year. As such, it also reflects a broader increase in other categories such as prices for capital goods (+0.5%), durable consumer goods (+0.1%), and non-durable consumer goods (+0.1%).

This article was written by Justin Low at investinglive.com.