French household appliance giant Groupe SEB - which owns the Seb, Tefal, Rowenta, Moulinex and Krups brands - has already confirmed it will add between 5 percent and 10 percent to the price of a range of its products.
Specialist stores already reported price increases from manufacturers and while many have so far resisted passing on the additional cost to consumers, that trend is unlikely to last.
A combination of increased worldwide demand for a range of appliances, notably coffee makers, bread machines and multi-function kitchen aids, combined with a shortage of parts because of temporary Covid 19-related factory closures in Asia and elsewhere is, in part, to blame for the impending price rises.
In some cases, parts are so rare that waiting times for deliveries have jumped from a matter of a few weeks to a year.
Meanwhile, increases in the cost of transportation and raw materials has squeezed manufacturers’ margins to the point they have no choice but to pass on increases. Seb said in a statement that, between July 2020 and February 2021, the cost of PVC rose 115 percent, while aluminium prices rose 27 percent, and cardboard costs jumped 14 percent.
The pressure on prices is set to remain until at least the end of the year, experts predict, as factories catch up on production.
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