Manufacturers’ energy bills plummeted in the first three months of 2009, according to BDO Stoy Hayward’s Quarterly Manufacturing Energy Tracker.
Falls were registered in electricity, natural gas and Brent Crude.
Electricity costs, at an average of £47 per megawatt hour, were at their lowest since the tail end of 2007. The figure constitutes a 25% fall year-on-year and a 37% drop on Q4 2008 costs.
Brent Crude fell to an average of $47 during the quarter and is now a massive 53% down compared to the same period last year.
Natural gas is down 18% year-on-year.
Tom Lawton, Head of Manufacturing at BDO Stoy Hayward, said: “As manufacturers are some of most energy intensive businesses in the UK, this reduction in key energy costs should come as welcome relief to the recession hit sector.
“With optimism levels in the sector at a 12-year low and the number of manufacturing businesses predicted to fail this year set to increase by 52 per cent, the fall in energy prices provides the sort of positive news manufacturers need.”
