(Reuters) – Spanish industrial prices fell a record 10% in the 12 months through August, from a revised 8.6% decrease in the 12 months through July, the National Statistics Institute (INE) said on Monday.
INE revised down the year-on-year July figure to a drop of 8.6% from an initial 8.4%.
The Spanish industrial prices decline was the steepest ever recorded, INE said. The statistics institute started measuring the indicator in 1976.
Energy prices sank 29%, the fastest rate since the beginning of the series, mainly thanks to cheaper gas.
Intermediate goods prices fell 5.8% over the period, led by prices of metals, including iron and steel products.
Companies tend to pass on industrial price rises to customers, ultimately fuelling consumer inflation. The effect of industrial price declines are not as automatic, though.
Annual inflation in the period through August in Spain was 2.6%, one of the lowest in the euro zone, down from a peak of 10.8% last summer, the INE said earlier this month.
(Reporting by Tiago Brandao, editing by Inti Landauro and Bernadette Baum)
