In May 2018 the Producer Price Index (PPI) for Industrial Products increased by 0.6 percent over April 2018 and by 8.4 percent compared to May 2017. Prices for manufactured products increased by 1.0 percent compared to the previous month, which resulted in a 0.77 percentage point contribution to the overall PPI change. There was an increase in prices for food products, beverages and tobacco (0.9 percent), basic metals and fabricated metal products (2.5 percent), also for chemicals, chemical products and man-made fibers (3.8 percent). Prices decreased for the group of electrical energy, gas, steam and hot water (-1.3 percent), contributing -0.18 percentage points to the overall monthly index change.
The annual PPI rate was mainly affected by price changes for the following products:
• Manufactured products: prices increased by 7.1 percent, contributing 5.84 percentage points to the overall annual index growth. There was an increase in prices for basic metals and fabricated metal products (20.4 percent) and for food products, beverages and tobacco (6.3 percent);
• Electrical energy, gas, steam and hot water: prices increased by 15.2 percent and contributed 2.06 percentage points to the overall PPI change;
