The price of goods leaving Britain's factories was unchanged in June following two months of declines in April and May. UK producer prices were flat in June from the previous month and rose 1.1pc from a year earlier, National Statistics said. Although the zero growth marks a recovery after 0.3pc declines in each of the previous two months, the reading was still less than the 0.1pc gain expected and indicates that manufacturers are unable to raise prices amid waning demand for their goods.
The flat producer price index reflected a decline in petroleum products being mainly offset by a rise in alcohol product prices, according to the statistics office. Producer input prices, or raw material costs, fell 0.1pc in June from the previous month and rose 1.9pc on a year-on-year basis. Between May and June, a rise in crude oil prices was offset by falls in home produced food, other imported materials, imported chemicals and fuel product prices. Core output prices, which excludes food, drink, tobacco and petroleum product prices, were unchanged in June from May, compared to forecast for a 0.1pc rise, and were up 1.1pc year-on-year. //www.fxcentre.com