Analyst: Industrial Prices Down in October, Turnaround to Come at End of Year

Bratislava, November 27 (TASR) - Industrial producer prices decreased in October 2024, but there will be a turnaround at the end of the year, said 365.bank analyst Tomas Bohacek in his commentary on the industrial producer price figures for October, which were released by the Statistics Office earlier on Wednesday. The Statistics Office on Wednesday reported that industrial producer prices for the domestic market decreased by 10.8 percent year-on-year (y-o-y) in October, falling by 2 percent in monthly terms. "Developments in prices in the domestic processing sector continue to reflect mainly price trends on commodity markets. Prices were falling primarily due to a drop in demand for production (mainly of metals and means of transport)," he specified. "We expect growth pressures on the prices of production inputs to strengthen more significantly at the end of this year due to the incorporation of increases in taxes and in company costs. At the beginning of next year, developments in global trade will also be important, as this could be damaged by the US administration's tariff measures for some time," said the analyst. According to the analyst, several processing segments will be marked by a jump in prices until the point at which higher prices will limit demand. "The worst outlook in terms of tariffs is for industries tied to exports to the USA, including our automotive sector. Difficult times await it next year, which will have a negative impact on our economic growth," added Bohacek. ko/df