Industrial prices in Romania increased by 2.4% in September-October 2023, after plunging 6.1% during February-June and staying flat during the summer, according to the statistics office INS.

The energy prices remain the major driver, increasing by 5.3% in September.

Energy prices are still some 4% below the peak levels reached in January-March, but they stabilised at a high level rather than further dropping towards “old normal”. The prolongation of the war in Ukraine and the complications in the Middle East are not supportive of lowering energy prices soon, with a negative impact on consumer price inflation and capacity utilisation in industry.

In annual terms, the factory-gate inflation remains negative (-2.2% y/y) in October for the fourth month in a row, but this doesn’t help too much the energy-intensive industries that still can’t afford to resume operations at full capacity due to high cost of energy in absolute terms.

iulian@romania-insider.com

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