What goes up ... stays up

THE price of crude oil drops, but the cost of petrol at the pumps rises. The price of coffee beans is the lowest for years, but the cost of bags of coffee in the shops and drinks served in cafes won’t be falling any time soon.

It appears that a rise in commodity prices rapidly increases the price of the end products, but when these commodity prices fall, there is always a reason why what goes up stays up and doesn’t come down.

TREVOR BAILEY, Nottingham.