The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics shows factory gate inflation registered a record rise of 10 per cent in the year to June, as cost rises reached double figures for the first time since records began.
The continually soaring input costs that manufacturers are suffering, up 2.1 per cent in the month to June and a staggering 30 per cent for the year, was the fomenter in the inevitable rise in output prices. Rising costs of fuel and food made the most significant impact, said the ONS. Oil and petrol was up 34 per cent on a year ago in June and food prices rose by 11.8 per cent.
With input price rises almost impossible to stave off with output rises, cost-cutting exercises are feared across the sector.
It is now thought that a drop in interest rates from the Bank of England is unlikely, with heavy inflation here and similar figures expected from a consumer perspective when they are released tomorrow.
