The industrial price index, also known as factory-gate prices, rose by nearly one third (+32.1% ) over the past year (YoY) to November 2021, according to the Romanian statistics office.

Luckily, the advance was not even: the energy prices nearly doubled (+94.5% YoY), and this inflationary shock is propagating through industries, eventually making an impact on consumer prices. It can be expected that once the energy prices "normalise," the factory-gate prices will stop rising, and the inflationary pressures seen at the level of consumer goods will disappear as well.

As of November, the prices of manufactured goods, in general, rose by 19.1% YoY, which is quite impressive for normal circumstances.

The prices of durable consumer goods increased by 12% YoY and the prices of fast-moving consumer goods by 6.6% YoY.

To what extent will the energy price shock propagate across industrial sectors, it depends on the profile of the shock: initially seen as transitory, the energy prices are now believed to remain high post-crisis. But it remains unclear how high they will stay and when they will return to the post-crisis equilibrium.

iulian@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Nuthawut Somsuk/Dreamstime.com)