--UK Feb unadj producer output prices -0.1% on mo; +1.6 on yr
--UK Feb adj core output prices unch on mo; +0.5% on yr
--UK Feb adj prod input prices +1.8% on mo; +6.1% on yr
--ONS says UK Feb output price yrly rise lowest since Aug 1999
--ONS says UK Feb output price monthly fall on petroleum products
--ONS says UK Feb core output price yrly rise lowest since Feb 2000
--ONS says UK Feb input price monthly rise on crude oil

London, March 12 (BridgeNews) - U.K. manufacturers experienced a steeper rise in the cost of raw materials in February than the markets had expected but output prices were lower than forecast, according to figures published by National Statistics on Monday. Input prices rose 1.8% on month and 6.1% on the year compared with analysts' forecasts of a 1.0% monthly rise and 4.7 % annual rise. But, output prices fell 0.1% from January and rose 1.6% in the year, the lowest annual rate since August 1999. Analysts had expected a 0.1% rise on the month and 1.9% rise on the year.
* * * Core output prices, which exclude the cost of food, drink, tobacco and crude oil, were unchanged from January and rose 0.5% on the year, in line with market expectations, and the lowest annual rise since February 2000. National Statistics said that the rise in input prices was mainly caused by a rise in the price of crude oil. By contrast, the fall in output prices from January to February was caused by a fall in the price of refined petroleum products, National Statistics said.
National Statistics said that the onset of the foot-and-mouth outbreak that was effecting the U.K. agricultural sector had come too late to have had any discernable impact on the February data.
The survey confirms the widespread assessment that last year's inflationary impulse from the spike upward in crude oil prices has now largely disappeared, and that there is no pressure on prices a the factory gate. More