German Industry Bemoans Rising Purchase Prices
A great many German industrial companies are reporting price increases for materials in the past three months. In ifo’s June survey, it was 92.0 percent. In the textile industry and in furniture manufacturing, the proportion was fully 100 percent of participants. Rubber and plastic products weren’t far behind, at 99.4 percent.
Other industries also report higher prices, including electrical equipment manufacturers (95.6 percent), manufacturers of basic metals (95.0), manufacturers of metal products (94.9), clothing manufacturers (94.0), computer manufacturers (93.5), and paper and paperboard manufacturers (93.2).
“We are seeing supply bottlenecks for steel and also for lumber and other wood-based raw materials, and some of the accompanying price movements are dramatic,” says Felix Leiss, a survey expert at the ifo Institute. “The shortage of wood means even pallets are now in short supply in some places. But various industries are telling us that there are supply problems with aluminum and copper products as well. Moreover, synthetic raw materials are also in short supply, and as a result there is now a shortage of synthetic yarns, films, packaging materials, insulation materials, and other plastic products. Supplies of semiconductors and other electronic components are still faltering, too. In the face of these shortages, prices are rising in many places.”
