Manufacturing growth and costs rise

Better than expected growth in the manufacturing sector in March was today overshadowed by one of the steepest rises in input prices for 20 years.

The Markit/CIPS survey, where a reading above 50 represents growth, hit a ten-month high of 52.1, which was higher than February’s score and exceeded City expectations of 50.8, although the growth was partly driven by companies building up levels of inventories at record rates.

While the survey indicates that the sector returned to growth in the first quarter of 2012, it also showed that average prices rose at their fastest rate since last August in “a marked turnaround” from the sharp declines just two months ago.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The extent of the pick-up in costs since the start of 2012, driven by rising oil and metal prices, is among the steepest in the survey’s 20-year history and is already starting to pass its way through to customers, with selling prices up at their fastest pace for half a year.