Crude goods
The Producer Price Index for Crude Materials for Further Processing declined 1.6 percent in February, following a 2.0-percent fall in January. Prices for crude foodstuffs and feedstuffs turned down in February, while the index for crude materials other than food and energy fell more than it did in the prior month. By contrast, the crude energy materials index posted a gain in February, after declining in January.The crude foodstuffs and feedstuffs index declined 3.2 percent in February, after advancing 1.9-percent in January. February prices for slaughter cattle fell 1.9 percent, following a 6.5-percent rise in January. Similarly, prices for slaughter broilers and fryers, corn, wheat, and raw cane sugar and byproducts decreased, following increases in the previous month. The indexes for rough rice and slaughter hogs fell more in February than they did in January. Conversely, prices for fresh vegetables, except potatoes, jumped 25.3 percent in February, after decreasing 15.1 percent in the prior month. The unprocessed finfish index also increased, compared with a decline in January.
Prices for basic industrial materials dropped 3.0 percent in February, after falling 2.5 percent in January. The copper ore index decreased 9.9 percent in February, following a 0.6-percent decrease in the prior month. The indexes for iron ore; softwood logs, bolts, and timber; and raw cotton declined, after registering gains in January. Prices for wastepaper remained unchanged, following increases in January. Iron and steel scrap prices declined more than they did in the preceding month. By contrast, the copper base scrap index moved up 4.8 percent in February, after declining 0.2 percent in January. Prices for gold ores, leaf tobacco, and aluminum base scrap fell less than they did in the previous month.
The crude energy materials index rose 0.2 percent in February, subsequent to a 4.5-percent decline in January. In February, the crude petroleum and coal indexes gained 3.3 and 1.4 percent, respectively. Conversely, the natural gas index fell 1.9 percent.
Net output price indexes for mining, manufacturing, and services industries
Mining
The Producer Price Index for the Net Output of Total Mining Industries advanced 1.3 percent in February, following a 3.6-percent decline in January. (Net output price indexes are not seasonally adjusted.) Leading this upturn, prices received by the crude petroleum and natural gas extraction industry rose 1.5 percent, compared with a 4.7- percent decrease in the prior month. The industry indexes for potash, soda, and borate minerals mining and bituminous coal and lignite surface mining also went up in February, after falling a month earlier. Prices received by the industries for natural gas liquid extraction and gold ore mining declined less than they did in January, while the industry indexes for oil and gas well drilling and for oil and gas operations support activities increased more in February than they did in the previous month. By contrast, prices received by the copper and nickel ore mining industry fell 9.7 percent, following a 0.6-percent decline in January. The index for the iron ore mining industry edged down, after moving up in the preceding month, while prices received by the crushed and broken granite mining and quarrying industry rose less in February than they did a month earlier. In February, the Producer Price Index for Total Mining Industries was 165.9 (December 1984=100), 18.2 percent above its year-ago level.
