BERLIN, Oct 10 - German wholesale prices rose 0.7 percent month-on-month in September, data from the Federal Statistics Office showed on Friday. Year-on-year, prices were up 0.6 percent. In August, wholesale prices rose 0.4 percent month-on-month, and 0.8 percent on the year. Wholesale prices are an important indicator for the future direction of consumer prices. Excluding oil, prices rose 0.8 percent month-on-month and were also up 0.8 percent year-on-year. That compares with a July rise of 0.3 percent month-on-month and a rise of 0.5 percent year-on-year. Month-on-month there were strong rises in the prices of fresh eggs, which rose 11.8 percent, live pigs up 10.8 percent and grain, up 7.8 percent. The price of fish and fish products fell by 10.5 percent.
Year-on-year, the Office said there were strong rises in prices of potatoes, which rose 21.3 percent, citrus fruit, which was up 17.8 percent, grain, up 17.6 percent and fresh eggs which climbed 13.6 percent. In comparison with September 2002, there were falls in prices for bananas, down 20.6 percent, light heating oil, down 8.2 percent, raw coffee, down 7.8 percent, cement, down 6.7 percent and apples, down 4.3 percent.//