High Supply And Low Demand Hit Fruit And Veg Prices

Wholesale fruit and vegetable prices reflect end of season high supplies and low demand fluctuations during October. Apples and pears prices have fallen due to high supply and low demand, raspberries and strawberries supplies fell but demand was still low and prices for raspberries increased but strawberry prices fell.

On the vegetable side, cauliflower prices fell by more than 30% due to increased supply, cucumber demand remained firm but supplies fell resulting in a price rise of 21.8%, iceberg lettuces prices fell by 22% because of increased supplies and quality concerns, peas prices rose by 39.5% due to supply problems, cherry tomatoes prices increased by 17.1% and plum tomatoes by 11% due to short supply.

e-Commerce Above Estimates But Down On Year

E-commerce accounted for 18% of turnover in 2012 down from 19% in 2011 but above the 2008 estimate of 14%. Business to business electronic data interchange (EDI) sales made up 67% of the total of e-commerce sales and the rest was accounted for by business to household website sales (33%). The website sales accounted for 6%, or £164bn, of business turnover in 2012 compared to 5%, or £134bn, in 2012. Broadband Internet had reached 95% of businesses and 82% had a website.

The largest companies still dominate e-commerce sales with businesses of 1000 or over employees accounting for 51% of all e-commerce sales. Total e-commerce sales amounted to £335bn in 2008, now sales have reached £492bn. Average annual growth between 2008 and 2012 was 10%. Total growth over the period 2008-2012 was 47%.

The highest levels of total e-commerce by industry sector were reported in wholesale and manufacturing with £172bn and £157bn respectively. The accommodation and food services sector reported low sales by comparison with £9.1bn but reported the highest proportional increase of 57% annually.

Website sales have reported steady growth in recent years. In 2008 13% of businesses sold over a website reporting sales valuing £92bn. In 2012 18% of businesses sold over a website with sales of £164bn. The total value of website sales increased to 6% of total business turnover. The largest companies accounted for half of all sales. The smallest businesses accounted for only 0.7% of the total 6% of turnover from website sales.

The wholesale sector reported the highest amount of website sales with £50bn. The retail sector reported the highest proportion of businesses making sales over a website with 34% and construction the lowest with 7%.

EDI sales decreased by £23bn in 2012 to £328bn from £351bn. EDI accounted for 12% of total business turnover in the UK in 2012 (the decrease may be accounted for by things like sampling variability). Only 6% of businesses sold by EDI while three times as many businesses used websites compared to EDI but sales values over EDI were double at £328bn compared to £168bn.

The manufacturing sector made to highest amount of sales in 2012 with £145bn. The wholesale sector followed with £122bn but also saw the biggest decrease in EDI sales value down 14% or £20bn from £142bn in 2011.

Social media or websites and applications that enable users to share content and participate in social networking has enabled businesses to change the way they interact with customers. In 2012, 44% of businesses reported they had used social media such as Facebook and LinkedIn. Nearly a quarter had used a blog or a microblog such as Twitter. Multimedia content sharing websites like YouTube or Flickr were used by 15% of businesses. Half of large businesses have content sharing websites. The ICT sector had the highest rate of use with 53% and transport and storage the lowest with 5%.

In 2012, 68 of businesses provided NIC details online and 89% of businesses completed their VAT returns over the Internet.

British Food Industry More Competitive In Future

Total factor productivity (TFP) of the UK food chain grew by 0.7% in 2011 and has continued to grow since 2002 making Britain's food industry more competitive. The food sector plays an important part in the economy accounting for 7% of Gross Value Added.

The food chain is made up of four parts: food retail, food manufacture, food wholesale and non-residential food catering. TFP measures the efficiency with which inputs are transformed into outputs. Productivity in both food manufacture and food wholesale has risen since 2000 while food retail and catering are much the same as 2000.

Average annual growth in the food chain between 2002 and 2011 rose by 0.7% as compared to an increase of 0.2% in the wider economy.

An Increase In The Number Of UK Businesses

The estimated number of private sector business in the UK at the start of 2010 increased by 48,000 to 4.5m according to statistics from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. They employed an estimated 22.5m people and had a combined annual turnover of £3,200bn. SMEs accounted for 99.9% of all enterprises, 59.1% of private sector employment and 48.6% of turnover. Two thirds, 64.2%, of private sector businesses were sole proprietorships, 27.6% were companies and 8.2% were partnerships.

The largest sector in terms of numbers of enterprises was construction with 899,000 businesses, professional, scientific and technical came next with 602,000. There were 146,000 enterprises in agriculture, forestry and fishing, 498,000 in wholesale, retail trade, repair and 291,000 in human health and social work activities.

The South East had the most private sector enterprises with 732,000, followed by London with 706,000. The East of England came third with 474,000. The North East had the least number of enterprises with 122,000. Next bottom was the East Midlands with 306,000. Scotland had 288,000, Wales 192,000 and N. Ireland 121,000.

Retail Maintains Growth

Volumes of retail sales increased for the third consecutive month in the year to September and were above average for the time of year according to the CBI Distributive Trades Survey. Supplier orders also increased. Volumes are expected to increase again in October. There were also increases in wholesale but motor trade volumes were unchanged and have been declining now for three months.

Distribution Drives The Increase In Services

The ONS index of services rose 1.2% in July 2010 compared with July 2009. The main contributor to the change was the distribution sector which increased by 4.7% with wholesale increasing by 6.5% and retail by 3.9%.

Sales Growth On The High Street Expected To Continue

Retailers have seen growth for the second month running according to the CBI Distributive Trades Survey for March. The trend is expected to continue through Easter. Sales volumes were reported to be higher than the same time last year as expected. The volume of orders also grew for the second month in a row. Stock levels are more than adequate to meet demand. Very strong sales were reported by grocers, durable household goods, clothing, furniture and carpet retailers. Hardware, china and DIY reported falling sales for the second month. The wholesale sector also saw a fall in sales against expectations. There was strong sales growth in the food and drink sector but agricultural machinery sales and builders merchants had a difficult month. Motor traders also had another bad month due to a drop in vehicle sales while parts and accessories sales grew for a second month.

Biggest Fall Ever In Natural Resource Use

The UK economy used 613m tonnes of natural resources between 2007 and 2008 according to ONS environmental accounts published last week. Domestic material consumption fell by a record 67m tonnes during the period. Resource use had remained more or less unchanged for 10 years. The fall reflects decreases in the domestic extraction industry mainly regarding primary aggregates like crushed stone, sand and gravel.

Direct material input (DMI) which is the sum of domestic and imported primary resources totalled 781m tonnes of which domestic production accounted for 502m tonnes, down 9.9%, and imports 278m tonnes, down 5.1%. Total material requirement (TMR) fell between 2007 and 2008 by 6.3% to 1,974m tonnes.

Environmental taxes, which can be divided into energy, transport, pollution and resources, amounted to £38.5bn in 2008, an increase of £0.6bn on 2007 and 2.7% of GDP in 2008. Households are paying over half the environmental taxes at 55.1% which amounted to £20.9bn, followed by transport and communication at 15.8% or £5.98bn, the wholesale and retail trade at 6.8% or £2.6bn and manufacturing at 4.9% or £1.9bn. The construction industry is growing in its contributions to environmental taxes.

Industries spent a total of 4.6bn on environmental protection in 2007. The chemicals industry spent £655m, the food industry 457m and the energy production and water industries spent 1.8bn on environmental protection in 2007 mainly on waste management, other abatement activities and air and climate protection.

High Street Building Up To Christmas

The CBI report retailers are enjoying an early build up to Christmas with the third successive month of growth in sales. The Distributive Trades survey suggests sales have grown over last year and could grow still more before the end of the month. Sales for the time of year are below seasonal norms and described as poor by some retailers.

Stock levels remain almost unchanged from November but the volume of orders rose again but at a slower rate than expected. Orders are expected to flatten in the New Year, as are sales.

The highest rates of growth were in the grocery, durable household goods, footwear and leather and furniture and carpets. Booksellers and stationers saw a reversal of their recent growth and there was a fall in sales at the chemists.

Industrial materials reported an change for the better as fourteen months of falling sales ended with a flat month. Clothing, textiles and footwear wholesalers saw their best sales growth since 2004.

There was a second month of growth for motor traders who expect that to contiue into the New Year due to the scrappage scheme. Sales for the month were said to be above average.

Retail Sales Expected To Increase Strongly This Christmas

The latest CBI Distributive Trades survey shows that businesses are confident about a good Christmas on the High Street. Business confidence is positive for the first time since 2007.

More retailers are reporting that sales have been rising over the last year and have reported growth for the second consecutive month. The growth in sales and the expectations of further growth in the festive season is making them more optimistic about the general business situation over the next quarter. The indicator for the three month moving average of sales volume turned positive and is expected to grow. Businesses have contnued to cut back stocks and now only a small number report stocks adequate to meet demand.

Employment conditions are still difficult in retail with 27% of businesses reported staff reductions and the same is expected in December. Investment intentions are getting better. Prices are still growing but at a slower rate and a similar pattern is expected next month.

In the wholesale sector sales volumes increased slightly for the first time since May 2008 but remained below average for the time of year. The situation is expected to get worse over the next quarter.

The automotive sector reported a year-on-year rise due to an increase in the sale of vehicles while sales of parts and accessories fell. The price inflation situation is much better and price rises are expected to slow further next month. Motor traders are pessimistic about the next three months even though sales are expected to rise again in December.

Difficult Summer For Shops

The CBI tell us that shops are still having a bad time in the High Street as retail falls again for the third month in a row. Their forecast for August is no better. The results are mitigated by saying that the fall is no greater than the rises we saw in May and June and a lot better than the falls between July 2008 and March 2009. That's better than expected by a lot of people.

Sales volumes are down but not as much as expected. Stocks are adequate to meet demand even though they are below average for the thrid succesive month. Orders fell again and the outlook for all of these figures is more of the same in August.

When looking at the individual sectors, grocers are seeing strong growth, as are footwear and leather with its best result since August 2007. Hardware, china & DIY, and furniture & carpets are reported falls while household durables fall is slower than last year. Wholesalers sales volumes fell in the year to July. In particular it was a difficult month for industrial materials and builders' merchants wholesalers. Food and drink wholesalers however reported another month of strong growth.

Not Much Change In Retail Trades

Retailers reported yet another fall in retail sales volumes for the first two weeks of June compared with last year in the latest CBI Distributive Trades Survey results. The decline was more or less what was expected, more than last month but not as much as the previous month and nothing like the falls that have been witnessed during the last year. Retailers also reported that they expect sales to fall for another month in July. Stocks are more than adequate to meet demand so retailers have been slowly cutting back on orders with their suppliers. Sectors to see some growth include grocers and furniture and carpets. Durables, hardware, china, DIY and clothing showed sharp declines. The fall in the wholesale sector was sharper than the previous two months. If the fall extends into July it will be the thirteenth month in a row of falling sales. The hardest hit were the industrial and builders merchants wholesalers. Agricultural machinery and food and drink wholesalers saw no change on the year. The scrappage scheme may have had something to do with the motor sectors best sales figures for over a year.

Sales Reflect Retailers Expectations

Retailers' year-on-year sales fell again in May according to the latest CBI Distributive Trades Survey results published today. There had been a brief pause in the decline in April but at least the monthly results reflect retailers' expectations for the month and confidence is the least negative for a year.

Employment conditions remained difficult in May and staff reductions continued to mount. Prices rose during the month and similar rates of price inflation are expected in the August quarterly DTS survey. A small majority of firms expect the general situation facing retailers to get still worse.

Wholesale and motor traders' sales fell faster in the year to May than in the year to April. Average selling prices in both sectors also increased. In the motors sector prices increased at the fastest rate since August 1990. Investment plans in the wholesale sector are lower than at any time since February 1991.

ONS And CBI See Fall In Business Services Output

Services output seasonally adjusted chained volume of gross value added index fell by 1.2% quarter-on-quarter to 113.3 and follows a fall of 1.3% on the previous three months according to Office for National Statistics latest Index of Services figures. The most significant fall in both quarter-on-quarter and in month-on-month figures was in business services and finance. Distribution fell 0.2% in the quarter to March compared to the quarter to December. It is the 9th consecutive monthly fall, driven mainly by wholesale, motor trades also decreased and retail increased. Hotels and restaurants fell by 5.1% over same period. There were also significant decreases in bars and restaurants. Transport, storage and communications fell by 2.3%. Business services and finance fell 2.2% to 121.7 in the quarter to March on the quarter to December and fell 0.4% between February and March. Government services increased by 0.7% in the quarter to March with the most significant increases in health and social work.

The Confederation of British Industry released its quarterly Services Sector Survey results today. It shows the service sector is still is deep recession. There are some signs of confidence returning. Consumer services fell at their fastest rate since November 2001. The rise in prices made the fall in business values look less marked. Business and professional services values fell faster than volumes due to record deflation in prices. Rates of decline are expected to slow down in both consumer services and business and professional services over the next three months. Employment is continuing to fall in both sectors. Profitability also fell but at a slower rate than the record falls of the previous quarter. Business and professional services show a similar pattern. A steep downward trend continues in telecomms and computing and transport of goods and post. Marketing services also show a continued downward trend in business values and volumes but much less marked. Confidence and profitability have both fallen. There are some signs that the decline is begining to slow.