2023.03.2913:39:00UTC+00Brazil Producer Price Inflation Eases To 1.38%, Lowest In 28 Months

Brazil's producer price inflation eased further in February to the lowest level in nearly two-and-a-half years amid a price drop in the chemical products and extractive industries segment, figures from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, or IBGE, showed on Wednesday.

The producer price index in the general industry rose 1.38 percent year-over-year in February, slower than the 2.24 percent rise in the previous month.

Further, this was the lowest inflation rate since October 2019, when prices had risen only 0.33 percent.

Prices in the extractive industries plunged 12.40 percent, while those in the transformation industries grew 2.21 percent.

On a monthly basis, producer prices dropped 0.3 percent in February versus a 0.29 percent increase in January.

"The chemical industry has the greatest negative impact, largely due to the drop in prices of products used in farming: fertilizers and fungicides," Alexandre Brandao, an analyst at IBGE, said.

"This is due to the reduction in demand and the stabilization of prices after the hikes caused by the war in Ukraine."