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                          U.S. IMPORT AND EXPORT PRICE INDEXES - SEPTEMBER 2011

U.S. import prices rose 0.3 percent in September, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over 
the past five months, import prices have shown little net change. Export prices increased 0.4 percent in 
September after advancing 0.5 percent the previous month.


Imports
 	
All Imports: Import prices advanced 0.3 percent in September after falling 0.2 percent the previous month. 
Overall, import prices have not changed by more than 0.6 percent in any month since rising 2.6 percent in 
April. Higher prices for both fuel and nonfuel imports contributed to the September advance. The price 
index for overall imports increased 13.4 percent over the past 12 months, led by a sharp rise in fuel prices. A 
5.5 percent advance in nonfuel prices also contributed to the overall increase.   

Fuel Imports: Fuel prices ticked up 0.1 percent in September, but declined in three of the past five months, 
falling 4.1 percent over that period. Despite the recent decreases, fuel prices rose 43.4 percent for the year 
ended in September. For September, import petroleum prices advanced 0.3 percent after falling 1.6 percent 
in August. Petroleum prices increased 45.9 percent over the past 12 months. Natural gas prices declined 4.8 
percent in September, yet rose 9.2 percent for the September 2010-11 period.   

All Imports Excluding Fuel: Prices for nonfuel imports increased 0.2 percent in September. Rising nonfuel 
industrial supplies and materials prices were the largest contributor to the higher nonfuel prices, although 
foods, feeds, and beverages prices and prices for each of the major finished goods categories all recorded 
increases for the month. The price index for nonfuel imports rose 5.5 percent over the past year. The largest 
previous year-over-year advance was 6.1 percent for the year ended September 2008.         


Table A. Percent changes

Exports 

All Exports: Export prices increased 0.4 percent in September after rising a similar 0.5 percent in August, 
resuming an upward trend following a 0.3 percent downturn in July. Higher prices for agricultural and 
nonagricultural exports each contributed to the advance. Prices for U.S. exports rose 9.5 percent over the 
past year. Despite increasing in August and September, the 12-month increase in export prices is less than 
the recent peak of 10.1 percent recorded in June. 

Agricultural Exports: Prices for agricultural exports rose 1.6 percent in September after a 2.1 percent 
increase the previous month. For the second consecutive month, higher prices for wheat, corn, and soybeans, 
up 13.3 percent, 5.2 percent, and 3.6 percent, respectively, in September drove the overall advance. 
Agricultural prices increased 22.9 percent over the past year, led by rising prices for corn, soybeans, wheat, 
and cotton.   

All Exports Excluding Agriculture: The price index for nonagricultural exports advanced 0.3 percent for 
the second consecutive month in September. The increase was led by higher prices for nonagricultural 
industrial supplies and materials, while finished goods prices were mixed. Prices for nonagricultural exports 
rose 8.0 percent over the past year.   
 				


                                       SELECTED SEPTEMBER HIGHLIGHTS

Import Prices

Nonfuel Industrial Supplies and Materials: Prices for nonfuel industrial supplies and materials increased 
0.7 percent in September following a 0.9 percent advance the previous month. A 0.9 percent advance in 
unfinished metals prices was the largest contributor to the September rise in the price index for nonfuel 
industrial supplies and materials prices. Higher prices for gold and other precious metals more than offset 
price declines for aluminum, copper, nickel, zinc, and tin.         

Finished Goods: Consumer goods prices rose 0.3 percent for the fourth consecutive month in September. 
Prices for consumer goods advanced 2.4 percent over the past year, the largest 12-month increase since a 2.8 
percent rise for the year ended October 2008. The price indexes for capital goods and automotive vehicles 
each increased in September, ticking up 0.1 percent.       
 
Foods, Feeds, and Beverages: Prices for foods, feeds, and beverages advanced 0.5 percent in September 
after declining 0.7 percent in August. Coffee prices, which fell 12.7 percent in August, rose 11.4 percent in 
September. The overall price index for foods, feeds, and beverages increased 14.4 percent over the past 12 
months. 

Imports by Locality of Origin: Import prices from China and the European Union each increased in 
September, ticking up 0.2 percent and 0.1 percent, respectively. Prices for imports from China rose 3.8 
percent over the past year, the largest 12-month advance since the index increased 4.3 percent in October 
2008. In contrast, prices for imports from Canada fell 0.6 percent in September, while import prices from 
Japan and Mexico were unchanged.   

Transportation Services: Import air passenger rates declined 2.1 percent in September following a 3.0 
percent drop in August. The decrease was driven by a 7.9 percent fall in Latin American/Caribbean fares and 
a 3.4 percent decline in Asian fares. Import air freight prices edged down 0.1 percent in September after 
decreasing 0.2 percent in each of the two previous months.   

Export Prices
 
Nonagricultural Industrial Supplies and Materials: The price index for nonagricultural industrial supplies 
and materials rose 0.8 percent in September, similar to the 0.7 percent advance the previous month. Higher 
prices for nonferrous metals and steelmaking materials, up 5.1 percent and 3.7 percent, respectively, drove 
the September rise.      
  
Finished Goods: Prices for consumer goods and automotive vehicles each increased 0.3 percent in 
September, while capital goods prices edged down 0.1 percent for the month. The price index for consumer 
goods  rose 5.1 percent over the past year. Automotive vehicles prices advanced 2.5 percent over the same 
period.            

Transportation Services: The index for export air passenger fares dropped 12.9 percent in September after 
an 8.5 percent increase the previous month. The September decrease was led by lower Asian and European 
fares, down 17.3 percent and 12.9 percent, respectively. In contrast, export air freight prices rose 0.5 
percent, the first increase since a 3.6 percent increase in May.
		

Import and Export Price Index data for October 2011 are scheduled for release on Thursday, 
November 10, 2011 at 8:30 a.m. (EST).

                                          TECHNICAL NOTE


Import and Export Merchandise and Services Price Indexes -- All indexes use a modified Laspeyres 
formula and are not seasonally adjusted.  Price indexes are reweighted annually, with a two-year lag in 
the weights.  Published series use a base year of 2000=100 where possible.  More detailed index series 
and additional information may be obtained at http://www.bls.gov/mxp, or by calling (202) 691-7101.

Merchandise Goods Classification Systems -- The merchandise price indexes are published using 
three classification systems.  Items are classified by end use according to the Bureau of Economic 
Analysis Classification System, by industry according to the North American Industry Classification 
System (NAICS), and by product category according to the Harmonized System (HS).  While 
classification by end use and product category are self-explanatory, some notes are in order for 
classifying items by industry.  In the NAICS imports and exports tables, items are classified by output 
industry, not input industry.  As an example, NAICS import index 326 (plastics and rubber products 
manufacturing) include outputs such as manufactured plastic rather than inputs such as petroleum.  The 
NAICS classification structure also matches the classification system used by the PPI (Producer Price 
Index) to produce the NAICS primary products indexes.

Import Price Indexes -- Products have been classified by the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United 
States Annotated (TSUSA).  Import prices are based on U.S. dollar prices paid by the U.S. importer.  
The prices are generally either "free on board" (f.o.b.) foreign port or "cost, insurance, and freight" 
(c.i.f.) U.S. port transaction prices, depending on the practices of the individual industry.  The index for 
crude petroleum is calculated from data collected by the U.S. Department of Energy.  

Export Price Indexes -- Products have been classified by the Harmonized Schedule B classification 
system of the U.S. Bureau of the Census.  The prices used are generally either "free alongside ship" 
(f.a.s.) factory or "free on board" (f.o.b.) transaction prices, depending on the practices of the individual 
industry.  Prices used in the grain index, excluding rice, are obtained from the U.S. Department of 
Agriculture.

Services Price Indexes -- Starting in September 2008 the Import Air Passenger Fares Indexes represent 
changes in the average revenue per passenger received by foreign carriers from U.S. residents and are 
calculated from data obtained from an airline consulting service.  These data include tickets sold by 
travel agencies and travel websites.  Tickets sold directly by the airlines are excluded, as are frequent 
flyer tickets generally.  Starting in January 2008 the Export Air Passenger Fares Indexes represent 
changes in the average revenue per passenger received by U.S. carriers from foreign residents and are 
calculated from data collected directly from airlines. These data include frequent flyer tickets and those 
sold by consolidators. Taxes and fees are included in the Import Air Passenger Fares Index and excluded 
from the Export Air Passenger Fares Index. The Air Freight Indexes are calculated from data collected 
directly from airlines. These data exclude mail and passenger baggage. The scope of the service being 
priced is the movement of freight from airport to airport only, and does not include any ground 
transportation or port service. The Air Freight Indexes are presented using two definitions: Balance of 
Payments (which represent transactions between U.S. and foreign residents) and International (which 
represent transactions inbound to and outbound from the U.S.). Fact sheets specifying detailed 
information for each services industry are available at http://www.bls.gov/mxp under "MXP 
Publications."

Import Indexes by Locality of Origin -- Prices used in these indexes are a subset of the data collected 
for the Import Price Indexes.  Beginning with January 2002, the indexes are defined by locality of origin 
using a nomenclature based upon the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS).  
Nonmanufactured goods are defined as NAICS 11 and 21 and manufactured goods are defined as 
NAICS 31-33. 
 
Revision Policy -- To reflect the availability of late reports and corrections by respondents, monthly data 
may be revised in each of the three months after original publication.  After three months, no further data 
revisions take place.  So, for example, data released in the January release will be subject to revision in 
the releases for February, March, and April.

Uses of the Data -- The primary use of the indexes is to deflate trade statistics, notably the foreign trade 
sector of the National Income and Product Accounts constructed by the Department of Commerce.  
Other published indexes are useful for general market analysis.  For trade in international services, 
Balance of Payments indexes are used for deflating National Income and Product Accounts, while 
International indexes are more appropriate for market analysis.  Merchandise and services indexes also 
can be used to study U.S. competitiveness and to compute price elasticities, and the merchandise import 
indexes by country or region of origin are useful in terms of trade analysis.

E-Mail Subscription -- The U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes news release is available through an 
e-mail subscription service at (http://www.bls.gov/bls/list.htm).
 
Additional Information -- More detailed data are available on the Import/Export Price Indexes home 
page at (http://www.bls.gov/mxp).  Flat Files and the FTP server are available for users requiring access 
to either a large volume of time series data or other related documentation. The FTP site can be accessed 
at ftp://ftp.bls.gov.   For technical assistance in using the BLS Internet site, send e-mail to 
(labstat.helpdesk@bls.gov).  For Import/Export Price Index data requests, send e-mail to 
(mxpinfo@bls.gov). 

Information from this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request.  
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