ROBERT Wiseman Dairies Plc, Scotland's largest fresh milk provider, said rising oil and plastic costs will probably force the company to raise prices.

Customers may be charged more, even as the price of milk declines around the world, the Scottish company said yesterday in a statement, Bloomberg News reported. Sales and revenue for the 10 months to January 26 met company forecasts and Wiseman expects full year results to do the same, the milk supplier said.

"The challenges presented by rising costs and volatile commodity pricing are familiar ones," the maker of Fresh'n'Lo milk said in the statement, and the company expects to be able to manage the situation "satisfactorily."

The price of skim milk powder, the benchmark for world trade, has fallen 23 percent on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange since rising to a record in October 2007. It is still 46 percent higher than a year ago. Milk producers are paying more for transportation and plastic packaging after a 62 percent increase in crude oil prices over the past year.

Food makers including Domino's Pizza UK & Ireland Plc and Cadbury Schweppes Plc, the world's largest candy maker, have increased prices because of higher costs for cheese and milk.

Wiseman said its new dairy in Bridgwater, south-west England, will produce 250 million liters by April after opening at the end of 2007. The company will make "significant" cost savings from the new site by cutting down delivery distances and reducing production at other dairies.