According to an IW survey, German companies regard rising and volatile prices of raw materials as an essential resource risk for their business. After dropping in 2008 and 2009, prices of raw materials have lately risen sharply. This is particularly true in the case of important metals used in the manufacturing sector. The Cologne Institute for Economic Research has developed a new price index for industry metals (IMP index). According to this index, prices reached a record high in the first quarter of 2011 when they lay a quarter above the maximum of the years 2007 and 2008. If the price trends of 2001 to 2010 remain stable in the coming years, import costs for industry metals will be 70 to 100 percent higher in 2015 than in the average of the years 2008 to 2010.
Download | PDF
