• Prior +0.3%

The headline reading marks the biggest monthly jump in import prices since March 2022. And no surprises, it is largely due to a massive surge in energy prices (+33.6% on the month). The annual jump shows a 13.2% increase compared to March last year. And to put things into perspective, the last time import prices for energy rose more sharply compared to the same month of the previous year was in December 2022 (+16.7%).

But even when you exclude energy prices from the equation, import prices were still up 0.8% on the month compared to February. And if you exclude only crude oil and petroleum products, the import price index was 1.4% higher compared to February.

That comes as intermediate prices also saw a strong bump on the month, being up 1.2%. In part, it is also reflective of the war in the Middle East with fertilizer prices rising sharply compared to the previous month (+10.1%).

The longer the war drags on, expect this to have a bigger toll on import prices and that will eventually spill over to consumer price inflation more significantly.

This article was written by Justin Low at investinglive.com.