Immediate inputs

[methodsman]

hey
im having trouble understanding what is meant by the term "immediate inputs" (denoted as "Pi" as a determinant of supply).
I know that when Pi increases, supply decreases (supply curve shifts to the left). But what is an immediate input? can someone please give an example.

[Fyrefly]

Intermediate inputs are goods used to produce other goods.
For instance, steel and leather are used to make a car... in this case, steel and leather are an intermediate input.

In some cases, a good can be used as either an intermediate input or as a finished product.
One such example is milk.
Milk might be the final product - you buy it and you drink it.
Or milk might be the intermediate input - it's used to make a cake, a milkshake, an omlette, ice cream, etc.

I know that when Pi increases, supply increases (supply curve shifts to the left).

When the price of an intermediate input increases, goods become more expense to produce, marginal cost increases, and suppliers' willingness to supply decreases (supply decreases - a shift to the left - see graph).

And btw... an increase in supply is a shift to the right, not to the left... an increase in supply is where a higher quantity of goods is willingly supplied for any given price.

[methodsman]

Intermediate inputs are goods used to produce other goods.
For instance, steel and leather are used to make a car... in this case, steel and leather are an intermediate input.

In some cases, a good can be used as either an intermediate input or as a finished product.
One such example is milk.
Milk might be the final product - you buy it and you drink it.
Or milk might be the intermediate input - it's used to make a cake, a milkshake, an omlette, ice cream, etc.

I know that when Pi increases, supply increases (supply curve shifts to the left).

When the price of an intermediate input increases, goods become more expense to produce, marginal cost increases, and suppliers' willingness to supply decreases (supply decreases - a shift to the left - see graph).

And btw... an increase in supply is a shift to the right, not to the left... an increase in supply is where a higher quantity of goods is willingly supplied for any given price.

thanks. oh and yeah, i was meant to write "supply decreases when graph shifts to the left", ooops!