This comes at a time when cooling product categories such air-conditioners, refrigerators and air coolers are witnessing strong demand due to the ongoing heatwave in parts of the country.
Sanjay Mahajan, Chairman & Managing Director, Carrier Midea India, said, “Last three months, commodity prices have been going up. Globally, costs of copper and aluminium are practically at an all-time high. So, some price corrections in air-conditioners segment in the market will begin from next month onwards in response to this hike in raw material costs.”
For LED TV makers, open cell rates, a critical component, have been on a high since early this year. Factors such as commodity costs surge and global freight price hikes are adding to these pressures.
Avneet Singh Marwah, CEO, SPPL, Indian brand licensee for Kodak and Thomson, said, “The cost pressures are further mounting. Global freight costs have surged multi-fold, open cell pricing remains high and commodity costs have also risen. We will have to hike LED TV prices by 5 per cent in June and may even need to increase prices further by 3-4 per cent in July.”
“Rise in costs has led to higher manufacturing expenses, increased working capital requirements, disrupted cash flow, extended production timelines, have complicated delivery schedules for companies. We are strengthening our collaboration with logistics partners and implementing careful inventory management practices,” said Arjun Bajaj, Director, Videotex, contract manufacturer for televisions.
