The prices of goods leaving the factory gate increased on a monthly basis by 0.9% in August, compared to a 0.1% gain for August last year, with dairy prices showing a big rise last month.
However, on an annual basis the Central Statistics Office wholesale price index shows that manufacturing prices in August showed a fall of 0.9%, which compares to a decrease of 1.7% in July 2007.
The most significant changes for August were increases in basic chemicals (up 1%), office machinery and computers (up 1.1%), and dairy products (up 3.5%).
Contributing to the annual change was a fall in office machinery and computers (down 10.8%), while there was a significant increase in dairy products (15.6%) and the cost of basic chemicals rose 13.7%.
The price of milk powder on international markets has doubled in the past six months and industry sources are warning that these trends will soon be felt in the shops.
The figures also show that there was a 7.1% annual increase in the cost of grain milling, starches and animal feeds.
Global grain prices have risen this year as a result of continuing drought in Australia and the reduction of EU reserve stocks. However, further increases are expected as more grain is used as fuel rather than food.
Breaking down the results by sector shows that building and construction materials were up 4.6% in the year and the price of energy products rose 9.5% since August 2006, with petrol costs up 1.9%.
In the month the index for export sales went up 1%, while prices for home sales rose 0.8%. On an annual basis there was a fall in export sales of 1.4% and a rise of 1.8% in home sales.
