Wholesale electricity prices increased by 11.3 per cent in the month to June but were 35.6 per cent lower when compared with the same month last year, new data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) shows.
The CSO’s overall energy products index increased by 9 per cent since May but decreased by 33.5 per cent when compared with June 2022.
However, consumers have been warned not to expect domestic gas and electricity prices to return to 2021 levels as many companies had signed up for long-term energy contracts with a fall in wholesale prices unlikely to be reflected in domestic bills for some time.
Domestic and business electricity bills have more than doubled since an energy crisis erupted in late 2021.
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Elsewhere, domestic producer prices for manufactured goods were on average 3.9 per cent higher in June compared with a year earlier, while producer prices for exported goods fell by 0.8 per cent. Overall, manufacturing producer prices were 0.6 per cent lower in 2023.
Producer prices for food products fell by 3.4 per cent this year, while the food products, beverages and tobacco index was down by 2.5 per cent.
Some of the most notable increases in producer prices for food products over the 12 months to June were fruit and vegetables (16.3 per cent); fish and fish products (13.2 per cent); and bakery and farinaceous products (3.8 per cent).
There were however decreases in dairy products (-13.1 per cent); vegetable and animal oils and fats (-7 per cent); and other food products (-4 per cent).
The most notable increases in other producer prices in 2023 were in beverages (17.2 per cent); other non-metallic mineral products such as glass, ceramics, cement, concrete and stone (9.8 per cent); as well as wearing apparel (6.7 per cent).
There were decreases in basic metals (-11.7 per cent), as well as in wood and wood products (-7 per cent).
Wholesale prices for construction products showed no change in the month to June but rose by 6.5 per cent in the 12 months since June last year.
The building and construction index, which covers materials and wages, remained unchanged in the month but rose by 4.9 per cent in the 12 months to June.
The steepest increases here were in structural steel fabricated metal (32 per cent); plaster (28.2 per cent); cement (24 per cent); and in copper pipes and fittings (16.8 per cent).
There however decreases in the cost of other treated timber (-31.3 per cent) and other structural steel (-28.8 per cent).
The cost of building has been regularly cited as one of the issues holding up the construction of homes.
Construction costs for houses and apartments are 15 to 30 per cent higher in Dublin than in comparable cities around Europe, says a cost comparison study to be presented to Government last month.
There had been concern that the sudden uptick in construction costs could jeopardise the Government’s housing targets. The Coalition’s Housing for All plan promises up to 33,000 units a year out to 2030.
Government officials are weighing a VAT cut for home-building in a move that could boost supply and cut house prices.
Builders have frequently called on Government to cut VAT on new home building to 9 per cent from 13.5 per cent , arguing that this would reduce costs and spark an increase in residential construction.
Commencement notices for the construction of 9,928 new homes were received by the Building Control Management System between January and April this year.
The Department of Housing noted that this was the highest level of commencements for the four-year period since records began in 2015 and some 6 per cent higher than the same period last year (9,343).
