From cooking gas to cars, prices will go up

India’s largest manufacturing and consumer goods companies are reportedly likely to implement another price hike in the next few months. In the name of Kovid, companies have tripled the price of their products this year alone. Companies are highlighting rising raw material costs, transportation costs, and supply disruptions. Sales are likely to decline, but Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) companies have said they expect a 4-10 per cent increase in prices over the next three months.

Consumer electronics companies have raised the prices of refrigerators, washing machines and air conditioners by 3-5 per cent so far this month. The region’s move is to raise prices by 6-10 per cent again from next month. This is the fourth increase in the price of white goods used in the manufacture of electrical appliances since December 2020. This is a record in the region. Top automakers in the country have also implemented price hikes, which are likely to increase further, top officials said.

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Although coking coal and other input costs have fallen slightly, the sector is not getting the support it needs from steelmakers, they said. Dabur said the price of the products has been increased by four per cent and there will be another price hike. “If inflation does not ease, we will be forced to face another round of price hikes in the fourth quarter,” Dabur said. Said by Mohit Malhotra. Hindustan Unilever, Dabur, Britannia and Mariko had raised prices of their products by 5-12 per cent in the last two quarters as prices of crude, palm oil and packaging more than doubled over the previous year.

Inflation is inevitable

Despite the price increase, the margin is low. Krishna Rao Buddha, head of senior division at Parle Products, India’s largest food company, said it was a setback. He added that despite the slight decline in raw material prices, there was no clear relief and that we would be forced to increase prices by 4-5 per cent in the next quarter.

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According to Nielsen, the FMCG is expected to launch in the September quarter. The market grew 12 percent. But 90 per cent of the growth was due to price reforms. The rest is the unit number of products. Consumer durable industry executives said input costs rose 22-23 per cent as prices of steel, copper, aluminum, plastics and components rose to all-time highs.

Expensive cars

Leading automakers such as Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai Motor India, Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Skoda, Volkswagen, Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) and Hero MotoCorp have been pushing up prices of raw materials several times throughout the year. From January 4, Hero MotoCorp has announced plans to raise prices across its range again to Rs 2,000. This is the company’s fourth price increase last year and the sixth in 18 months.

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Valuable inputs

Steel prices rose to Rs 77 per kg in the third quarter of this fiscal from Rs 38 per kg in April-May 2020. Copper prices rose to $ 9,700 per tonne. In May 2020, it was $ 5,200 per tonne. Aluminum prices also rose. It rose from $ 1,700- $ 1,800 per tonne to $ 2,700- $ 2,800.

There have been some softenings in the price of the precious metal rhodium. It was reduced from $ 26,000 per tonne to $ 18,000 per tonne. But the conclusion is that this is only temporary. Coking coal prices rose to Rs 432 per quintal from Rs 180 at the beginning of the year. This is due to the shortage of coal.

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