U.S. Export Prices Fall More than Expected, Import Prices Unexpectedly Rise

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U.S. export prices fell 2.6% from a month earlier in December, above expectations of a 0.5% drop and following an upwardly revised 0.4% retreat the prior month. It was the sixth consecutive monthly decrease in export price. Nonagricultural export prices fell 2.7%, the most since July 2022, and agricultural export prices decreased 2.4%. On a yearly basis, prices for U.S. exports rose 5%, the least since January of 2021 and slowing from the downwardly revised 6.1% the previous month.

Prices for U.S. imports rose 0.4% from a month earlier in December, following a revised 0.7% decrease the previous month and compared with market consensus of a 0.9% fall. It was the first monthly increase since June on the back of higher nonfuel and fuel prices. Prices for nonfuel imports increased 0.4%, the first monthly advance since April, due to rising costs for nonfuel industrial supplies and materials; consumer goods; foods, feeds, and beverages; capital goods; and automotive vehicles. Import fuel prices rose 0.6%, the first monthly increase since June, as higher natural gas prices more than offset lower prices for petroleum. On a yearly basis, U.S. import prices advanced 3.5% in December, accelerating from November’s 2.7% increase.

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