Triggered by the coronavirus pandemic, the supply chain of our global suppliers is currently very tight. Overall, we are still in a position to procure all products and spare parts, but we are confronted with the following trends:
- Delivery times have increased significantly in some cases. The main reason for this is the demand-driven, global reduction in shipping companies' capacities. The same applies to air traffic. In addition, the stricter contact regulations in the ports due to the coronavirus have meant that it no longer takes two to three days to unload a shipment, but five to six days. The isolated incident with the stranded container ship in the Suez Canal has further exacerbated the situation.
- In addition to the challenges associated with transportation routes, the shortage of certain electronic components has also led to longer delivery times. Certain suppliers have massively reduced their production at times due to demand, which is now leading to demand significantly outstripping supply as the economy picks up again.
- A reduction in production volumes has also taken place in the oil industry in particular. As a result, petrochemical products such as printing inks, paints and fountain solutions are currently experiencing massive price increases, as demand is significantly outstripping supply due to the artificial shortage.
- The imbalance between supply and demand in transportation and raw materials, coupled with the additional costs for corona-compliant processing, lead to significantly higher procurement costs. In the event of price increases by our suppliers, we reserve the right to pass on such additional costs to our customers transparently. There is currently no end in sight to the tense price situation.
Together with our suppliers, we are currently focusing on the consistent quality of our products and our ability to deliver. In this way, we are ensuring that our customers' production is guaranteed even in this tense situation.
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