BERLIN, Feb 10 - German wholesale prices rose by 0.5 percent month-on-month in January and by 0.4 percent year-on-year, data from the Federal Statistics Office showed on Tuesday. In December, wholesale prices fell by 0.1 percent and rose 1.3 percent year-on-year. The office said the noticeably lower year-on-year rise in comparison to December was due to base effect changes, stemming from the introduction of higher taxes on energy and tobacco at the outset of 2003. Excluding oil, prices rose 0.5 percent compared to December and rose 1.1 percent on the year. In December, the wholesale price index was flat month-on-month excluding oil and rose by 1.3 percent on the year.
Month-on-month there was a sharp rise in the price of tomatoes, up 22.9 percent and scrap iron and steel, up 9.8 percent. The price of bananas climbed by 4.9 percent, and coffee by three percent. The price of fish and fish products fell by 12.6 percent month-on-month and citrus fruits by 5.7 percent. Year-on-year, there were sizeable increases in the cost of potatoes, up 37.4 percent, grains, up 35.5 percent, fresh eggs, up 30.1 percent and scrap iron and steel, up 21.4 percent. There were notable year-on-year falls in the cost of heavy heating oil, down 25.4 percent, fish and fish products, down 21.9 percent, coffee, down 17.2 percent and live pigs down 8.5 percent.//