Factory input and output prices soar
The price manufacturers are having to pay for raw materials and fuel continues to rise steeply while output prices are at a 17-year high.
According to new official figures posted yesterday (14 April), the input price index from the Office for National Statistics showed the input costs for UK manufacturers hit an annual figure of 20.6 per cent in the year to March compared with 19.7 per cent for the year to February. The rate has more than doubled in the six months since October - the last time when, at 8.9 per cent, it was in single figures.
Meanwhile, so-called factory gate inflation - the output price index for home sales of manufactured products - recorded the most marked increase for 17 years. Not since 1991 has ONS reported a figure as high as yesterday’s 6.2 per cent for the year to March. In the 12 months to February, it had been at of 5.9 per cent.
