Export prices down in March 2009

April 13, 2009

Export prices decreased 0.6 percent in March because of lower prices for both agricultural and nonagricultural exports. The index decreased 9.8 percent over the past eight months and 6.7 percent for the year ended in March.

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Agricultural prices fell 3.5 percent in March, led by declines for soybeans, corn, and wheat. Agricultural export prices decreased 21.8 percent over the past year, the largest annual decrease since the index was first published in March 1985.

Nonagricultural prices edged down 0.3 percent in March and fell 5.0 percent over the past 12 months. The drop in nonagricultural prices in March was led by a 0.9-percent decrease in the index for nonagricultural industrial supplies and materials.

These data are from the BLS International Price program. Export price data are subject to revision. Learn more in "U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes – March 2009" (PDF) (HTML), news release USDL 09-0363.