Economy

Dutch petrol prices have fallen by nearly 5 cents this week to €2.684 per litre following a record peak last Saturday, bringing unleaded costs back below diesel forecourt rates. While raw crude prices eased slightly to just over $105 a barrel, pump prices remain severely inflated as ongoing Middle East conflict and shipping restrictions through the Strait of Hormuz continue to disrupt global supply lines.

A growing number of households are facing rising energy bills as fixed-term contracts expire and automatically roll over onto higher variable tariffs, according to the Authority for Consumers & Markets (ACM). Rates for new fixed gas deals have jumped by nearly 5 per cent over the past month to reach their highest levels since the 2023 energy crisis, while roughly 700,000 households on district heating networks face an estimated 25 per cent surge in costs from 1 January due to rising gas prices.

A broad alliance of Dutch municipalities, regional transport authorities, and business groups has warned that the cabinet's recent infrastructure plans fall short, insisting that significant additional funding is needed to tackle deteriorating road, rail, and waterway networks. Pointing to major bottlenecks at key bridges and dikes that force long detours and stifle economic growth and housing development, the coalition is urging ministers to establish a long-term investment strategy and enter formal talks with industry leaders by early 2027.

Dutch Design Week returns to Eindhoven from 17 to 25 October, bringing together 2,500 designers, exhibitions and events centred on this year’s theme, R.A.W.

Driven by a recovery in German steel production and high natural gas prices, coal throughput at the Port of Rotterdam rose by 15.3 per cent in the first nine months of the year. While low river levels hindered inland transport for iron ore and scrap metal, Europe's largest port recorded modest overall growth of 0.9 per cent to 323.2 million tonnes, further supported by a 31.9 per cent surge in refined oil exports amid ongoing energy market disruptions.

De Nederlandsche Bank has renewed its call to abolish mortgage interest tax relief, with Director Olaf Sleijpen arguing that property market cooling does not alter the fundamental economic case for scrapping the policy. Speaking at the University of Amsterdam, Sleijpen stressed that the long-standing tax break artificially inflates house prices and unfairly favours homeowners over renters, adding that the Dutch economy could comfortably handle a drop in property values and lamenting a missed opportunity to phase out the relief when interest rates were ultra-low.

The Amsterdam AEX index closed Friday at a new record high of 1,130.95 points, led by a 5.6 per cent surge in ArcelorMittal following a broker upgrade from UBS. Gains across professional publishers and broader European bourses helped offset weakness in semiconductor stocks ASML, ASMI, and Besi—which slipped up to 1.8 per cent following reports of weaker-than-expected OpenAI revenue—while troubled electric bus manufacturer Ebusco crashed 16.5 per cent over ongoing going-concern fears.

Dutch industrial output grew by 12 per cent year-on-year in August, marking its fastest pace of expansion in over four years behind a global boom in artificial intelligence technology. Driven by strong global demand for ASML's advanced chipmaking machinery, the country's equipment manufacturing sector jumped by over 45 per cent, boosting overall factory production and pushing Dutch producer confidence to a multi-year high despite a 4 per cent contraction in the chemical industry.