Supply chain crisis, U.S. commodities ushered in "price increase"
According to the latest media report on Monday (October 25), the US retail store known for its "one dollar merchandise"—dollars Tree announced that the company is subject to transportation costs and inflationary pressures and is preparing to launch $3 and $5 merchandise. , The company’s previous product prices are all within $1.99. In this way, even the "one dollar store" can't stand it, and the "price increase" of American companies seems not far away.
Recently, a large number of U.S. companies have complained on conference calls, saying that they have been living in the cracks of supply chain shortages and inflation for a long time. Under the continuous squeeze of profits, they have to start to consider transferring cost pressures to commodity prices to allow consumption. Those who share it together. According to incomplete statistics, six large European and American companies have previously chosen to increase prices, including Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Unilever, Danone, Procter & Gamble and Nestlé.
In fact, not only retailers are affected, but some manufacturers are almost unable to handle it. US home appliance manufacturer Whirlpool (9.530, -0.43, -4.32%) said that the current commodity supply chain is inefficient, which is also the reason for the increase in the price of resin, steel and other home appliance manufacturing materials. The company’s material expenditures this year has increased by nearly 1 billion US dollars. .
The Beige Book published by the Federal Reserve on October 20 this year also showed that the current slowdown in US economic growth is due to the decline in labor participation and supply chain shortages, which has led to a large number of commodity costs. This makes many companies choose to increase prices in order to protect their own interests.
However, some companies still tend to believe that inflation is temporary. If they raise commodity prices too quickly, they may lose a large number of customers. Therefore, they will continue to bear cost pressures. Insiders warned that inflation is probably not temporary, and companies should also pay attention to consumer attitudes while raising prices. The amount consumers are willing to pay for certain products is limited.
It is worth mentioning that the current east-west shipping prices have soared by 1,000%, and the supply of food and daily necessities in American supermarkets is not optimistic. Even the supply of some high-end consumer goods has been affected. The "Black Friday" shopping festival in the United States is coming soon. By then, the price of goods may continue to rise.