The price paid by British manufacturers for their raw materials tumbled last month as crude oil prices dropped sharply following the war in Iraq. UK input prices fell 3.6pc in April from March and were up 0.1pc from a year earlier, National Statistics said this morning. The decline was unexpected with analysts forecasting a 0.2pc increase on the month. The fall in the input index between March and April mainly reflected an 18pc drop in crude oil prices, the statistics office added.
Output prices, meanwhile, eased 0.1pc on the month and were up 1.7pc on a year-on-year basis, down from 2.1pc in March and the lowest annual rate since January. Prices at the factory gate have declined for two straight months as British companies are unable to increase prices amid weaker demand for their products. The so-called core measure of factory price inflation - excluding food, drink, petroleum and tobacco costs - was unchanged in the month and rose 1.3pc in the year. ///www.fxcentre.com