Fuel crisis hits manufacturers "Growth of production fell to a three-month low, as output slowed to near stagnation" - Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply The fuel crisis has hit manufacturers hard, with the weak euro adding to the industry's woes, according to a new survey.

The Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply found that while the economy was still expanding, the rate of growth was had slowed down.

In fact during September, the CIPS said that "growth of production fell to a three-month low, as output slowed to near stagnation".

Confirmation of the dramatic fall in manufacturing output growth comes just days ahead of the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee's meeting which is expected to be another close call.

But the Committee would be reluctant to increase rates in the face of evidence that the economy is slowing.

The CIPS reports that the fuel shortages and protests severely disrupted deliveries of raw materials and semi-manufactured goods.

It also noted that manufacturers responded to the pressures by restructuring their businesses - in other words, cutting jobs.

Manufacturing employment has now shrunk for 11 months in a row.

But there was some positive news: sales rose for the eighteenth month a row.

The fuel shortages and protests by hauliers were all reported to have caused delays and disrupted deliveries.

Roy Ayliffe, director of professional practice at CIPS, said: "The fuel crisis placed UK purchasing managers under immense pressure during September.

"In response to this, purchasing managers acted strategically, satisfying demand from their stocks and avoiding increased purchasing.

"The sharp lengthening of delivery times seen during the month hints that the full impact of the fuel crisis may be still to appear," he said.

http://itn.co.uk/news/20001002/business/07manufacture.shtml

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), October 02, 2000

Answers

Yes, naturally, there is always some lead time for the effects of such a disaster to be fully felt.

I'm curious to know when it will feed through to the financial community.

-- Uncle Fred (dogboy45@bigfoot.com), October 02, 2000.

Isn't it a bad omen when we hear that production is at near stagnation?

-- QMan (qman@c-zone.net), October 02, 2000.