The industrial products that Spain buys abroad were in July 5.7% more expensive than a year earlier. The Import Price Index (IPRIM) has recorded five months of year-on-year increases and accelerates again by a tenth, although compared to June, prices fell slightly, by 0.1%.
The data provides a first signal about the costs that Spanish companies face when purchasing raw materials, industrial components, or energy outside the country.
It is not a consumer price index. An increase in the IPRIM does not mean that store products have to become more expensive in the same proportion, because companies can absorb part of the increase with their margins, change suppliers, or have previously closed supply contracts.
It does allow detecting where cost pressures are accumulating.
Energy remains the main focus
The prices of imported energy were in July 14.7% above those of a year earlier.
The rate moderated by 1.1 points compared to June mainly due to the behavior of crude oil and natural gas.
In fact, in monthly comparison, the prices of oil and natural gas extraction fell by 2.4%.
The opposite movement appeared in the supply of electricity, gas, steam, and air conditioning, whose imported prices skyrocketed by 47.7% monthly.
Without energy, imports are also more expensive
Eliminating energy does not erase the pressure.
The IPRIM without energy increased by 3.2% year-on-year, three tenths more than in June.
This indicates that the increase is not concentrated solely on oil, gas, or electricity.
Capital goods, for example, increased their annual rate by three tenths to 1.5%, due among other factors to the behavior of computer products.
Intermediate goods: the pressure that may appear months later
Intermediate goods deserve special attention because they are used to manufacture other products.
In June, they had shown an imported inflation of 6.8%, driven by the chemical industry and metallurgy.
If these costs remain high for several months, they may end up being partially passed on to manufactures, packaging, construction, automobiles, chemicals, and other goods.
The transmission usually occurs with a delay and is never automatic.
What could reach the consumer in autumn
There are three major channels that are worth monitoring.
The first is energy and fuels, because they directly affect transportation and the production costs of almost all sectors.
The second is raw materials and chemicals used by the industry.
The third is imported components and intermediate goods used to produce finished goods in Spain.
But the data from July does not allow us to affirm today that a food item, an appliance, or a car will rise by a specific amount in September or October.
Prices within Spain are also accelerating
The external indicator coincides with a strong increase in national industrial prices.
The IPRI increased by 9.2% year-on-year in July, with energy growing by 20.8%. Without energy, the increase is reduced to 3.5%.
Two days after knowing that data, the preliminary CPI for August has placed consumer inflation at 4.3%, seven tenths higher than in July.
The combination shows pressure at various links in the chain, although with very different intensities: imports +5.7%, national industrial prices +9.2% and CPI +4.3%.