German import prices rose by 0.1 percent in January from the preceding month, but fell 3.1 percent from a year earlier, data from the Federal Statistics Office showed on Thursday. Economists polled by had on average forecast prices would be unchanged on the month and up three percent from January 2003 . The office said the calculations were made using a new base year of 2000, replacing 1995. Excluding mineral oils, import prices were unchanged month-on-month and fell by 2.1 percent on the year. Compared with December there were rises in the prices of coffee, up 11.2 percent, fuel up 7.9 percent, coal up 7.3 percent and iron ore, up 5.6 percent. The price of beef fell by 4.1 percent.
From a year ago, there were falls in the price of crude oil, down 15.1 percent, mineral oils, down 11.8 percent, natural gas, down 8.5 percent, poultry, down 5.7 percent, bananas, down 5.5 percent, coffee, down 4.7 percent and pork, down 4.4 percent. Over the same period, there were rises in the price of copper, up 19.8 percent, coal, up 18.2 percent and fertilizers and nitrates, up 8.1 percent. In December, the rebased index of import prices fell by 0.4 percent month-on-month and by 2.9 percent on the year.///