• Import prices rise 1.4% in Feb. as fuel prices jump 6.9%.

• Excluding fuels, import prices increase 0.8%.

• Export prices advance a record 3.0% with both ag export prices and nonag export prices up 3.0%.

Import prices rose 1.4% m/m (10.9% y/y) in February after a 1.9% rise in January (+2.0% initially) and a 0.4% decline in December, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The February m/m rise was the fifth in six months. Export prices rose 3.0% last month (16.6% y/y) following a 2.8% gain in January (+2.9% initially) and a 1.6% drop in December. The m/m rise in export prices was the 20th in 21 months and the largest on record. The Action Economics Forecast survey had expected increases of 1.4% for import prices and 1.3% for export prices in February.

The rise in import prices in February was driven by a 6.9% gain (53.0% y/y) in imported fuel prices following a 7.7% January rise (+9.3% initially). The key contributors to the gain in imported fuel costs were m/m rises of 12.9% in other petroleum products (66.7% y/y), 9.1% in fuel oil (55.2% y/y), 8.1% in petroleum & petroleum products (52.8% y/y), and 6.8% in crude oil (48.8% y/y). Natural gas, however, fell 10.0% (+61.6% y/y) following a 6.8% January rebound. Nonfuel import prices rose 0.8% (7.2% y/y), the sixth straight monthly rise, after a 1.3% gain, led by m/m price increases of 2.2% in nonfuel industrial supplies & materials (22.8% y/y), 1.5% in foods, feeds & beverages (16.0% y/y), 0.3% in capital goods (3.2% y/y), 0.3% in consumer goods ex autos (2.9% y/y), and 0.2% in automotive vehicles & parts (2.5% y/y).

The February rise in export prices reflected gains in both agricultural and nonagricultural export prices. Agricultural export prices advanced 3.0% (18.2% y/y) in February, the fifth straight m/m gain and the largest since May 2021, after a 2.9% increase in January. Nonagricultural export prices rose 3.0% (16.3% y/y), the 15th m/m rise in 16 months, after a 2.8% increase. Industrial supplies & materials export prices advanced 5.8% (35.2% y/y), the biggest m/m gain since March 2021, after a 5.8% rise. Export prices for foods, feeds & beverages grew 3.0% (17.7% y/y), the sixth m/m gain in seven months, on top of a 3.2% rise. Nonauto consumer goods prices increased 0.7% (4.8% y/y), the fifth consecutive m/m gain, after a 1.1% advance. Capital goods prices rose 0.4% (4.1% y/y), the 14th straight m/m rise, following a 0.8% increase. Auto export prices were up 0.3% (2.4% y/y) after a 0.5% rise, registering the ninth successive m/m advance.

The import and export price series can be found in Haver's USECON database. Detailed figures are available in the USINT database. The expectations figure from the Action Economics Forecast Survey is in the AS1REPNA database.