Business

Packaging firms across the board are set to benefit from the falling price of oil, which has dropped below $50 (£33) a barrel for the first time in three and a half years.

The most obvious beneficiary will be plastics packaging companies due to the reduced price of raw materials, but the energy intensive sectors, such as glass, also stand to benefit from the lower costs.

Tim Rothwell, packaging analyst at Lansdowne Capital, said: "It’s good news for those firms where the manufacturing process is the second highest cost after raw materials."

He added that as falling input costs resulted in lower prices there would be concerns over deflation and the impact on business performance.

Rothwell also highlighted the savings on transport costs and suggested that fresh and frozen food sectors could benefit as it became cheaper to maintain goods at low temperatures.

The RAC has suggested that the price of petrol could drop to 88p a litre before Christmas.