SABMiller, the world's second largest beer maker by volume whose brands include Nastro Azzuro, Carling Black Label and Miller, said today that prices will go up across its product range for two years to pay for raw material rises.

The company said raw material costs such as barley, hops and maize will rise in the "low teens" this year after increasing by 9 per cent in the 12 months to March 31, 2008.

The cost of goods, which includes aluminium and steel used for cans and bottle tops and cardboard for packaging will also increase to "upper single digits" after rising by 6 per cent over the last financial year.

SABMiller said today: "In the current year, volume growth in the first half will be affected by high comparative growth rates and pressure on input costs will continue to increase although pricing is again expected to compensate for these cost increases."

A spokesman for SABMiller said that it had raised prices by 4 per cent last year, and is prepared to introduce more increases to cover costs over the next two years, stating that the company has kept prices below the Consumer Price Index for "many years". Shares in SABMiller rose by 55p to £12.58.

In the last financial year, revenue increased by 15 per cent to $21.4 billion (£10.9 billion) while pre-tax profits grew by 16 per cent to $3.2 billion. The company increased the full-year dividend by 16 per cent to 58p.

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