Spain June Producer Price Inflation Rate Rises to 23-Year High

By Ben Sills

July 23 (Bloomberg) -- Producer prices in Spain accelerated more than economists expected in June to the fastest pace in 23 years as record oil increased costs for manufacturers.

The price of goods leaving Spain's factories, farms and mines rose 9 percent from the year-earlier period after a 7.9 percent increase in May, the National Statistics Institute in Madrid said in an e-mailed statement today. That exceeded the 8.4 percent median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of six economists. Prices rose 1.1 percent on the month.

Crude oil has risen by a third this year and touched a record $147.27 a barrel in New York this month. Surging energy prices helped push euro-region consumer-price inflation to a 16- year high of 4 percent in June, exceeding the European Central Bank's 2 percent limit for a 10th straight month.

Spain's consumer-price inflation reached 5 percent in June, the fastest pace in 13 years.

The price of gasoline leaving refineries increased 50 percent on the year, while food prices were up 10 percent.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ben Sills in Madrid at bsills@bloomberg.net.