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Empty shelves:
Hamster purchases worsen the supply situation
Photo: Sven Hoppe/ dpa
Businesses and consumers are feeling the consequences of the Ukraine war more and more.
In March, inflation in Germany was already at 7.3 percent – consumer prices in the old federal states were last this high in autumn 1982. Raw materials are becoming scarcer and therefore more expensive, oil and gas prices are rising to unprecedented heights and consumers are making the situation even worse with hamster purchases.
And all this against the background of the supply chains already being disrupted by the Corona crisis.
More and more companies are therefore forced to pass on the increased costs to their customers.
After plane tickets, groceries such as meat, sausage and butter or electric cars, the following products are now affected:
Car tyres: double-digit price increases
High costs for production and transport as well as material shortages are driving the prices for car tires called up by manufacturers, as the Federal Association of Tire Retailers and Vulcanisers (BRV) explains.
In view of the Ukraine war, further increases have also been announced, "some of which are in the double-digit range".
The tire manufacturers have gradually increased their prices over the past few months because of the sharp increase in the costs of raw materials, energy and transport, says BRV technical director
Michael Schwämmlein
.
"The procurement situation has worsened due to supply bottlenecks for some raw materials, such as carbon black or synthetic rubber."
Customers will also feel this: for business reasons alone, retailers would also have to adjust their prices.
An analysis by the Alzura Tyre24 platform showed that the purchase prices of tire dealers and garages increased by a good 15 percent on average in February and March compared to the same period last year.
Prices had already risen by around 6.5 percent on average last year.
Noodles: Prices are rising due to crop failures and hamster purchases
According to the Grain, Milling and Starch Industry Association (VGMS), the war in Ukraine has had a massive impact on pasta manufacturers in Germany.
The war had exacerbated the already tense situation caused by the corona pandemic, said
Peter Haarbeck
, Managing Director of the VGMS.
Energy supply, raw material procurement, packaging and logistics are affected.
According to Haarbeck, the companies would have to take the increased costs into account when determining their prices, otherwise they would not be able to continue to exist.
He cannot say how high the price increases will be in the end.
"Since we already have to pay higher prices for our high-quality raw materials, a price increase is unavoidable," said a spokeswoman for the Swabian dumpling and spaetzle producer Bürger.
The company from Ditzingen (Ludwigsburg district) is currently in price negotiations with its trading partners.
Raw materials, packaging materials, but also the transport costs increased extremely.
According to the spokeswoman, suppliers are currently no longer able to supply citizens on the agreed terms.
Mike Hennig
, Managing Director of Pasta Riesa
, draws a similar picture .
The conflict in Ukraine and the associated economic impact dramatically dramatized the current situation.
The company from Riesa (Meissen district) will have to react to current developments in order to survive the crisis.
"Our customers and consumers have to reckon with higher food prices," says Managing Director Hennig.
Noodles are made from durum wheat semolina.
Unlike soft wheat, Germany is dependent on imports of durum wheat, explained VGMS Managing Director Haarbeck.
However, Russia and Ukraine did not play a major role in the global supply of durum wheat.
Nevertheless, there are problems with the supply of durum wheat.
The harvest in Canada, the most important exporter, fell sharply last year after a very hot and dry summer.
The general uncertainty on the raw materials markets and the high demand for grain as a whole have now also caused the price of durum wheat to rise – albeit by far not as much as that of soft wheat.
At the moment, pasta manufacturers can hardly keep up with the demand from the retail trade.
"Like at the beginning of the pandemic, people buy large quantities of pasta because they can be stored very well," said Haarbeck.
The supply is guaranteed, but if people buy far more than they need to, this pushes the logistics from the manufacturers to the supermarket to the limit of their capacities.
Dairy products: "Milk is getting scarce"
According to the dairy industry, dairy products are likely to become even more expensive after the recent price increases.
"The prices are rising to an extent that I have never experienced before," said the general manager of the dairy industry association, Eckhard Heuser, of the "Mitteldeutsche Zeitung".
According to Agrarmarkt Informations-Gesellschaft (AMI), the cheapest 250-gram pack of branded butter currently costs 2.09 euros, which is 44 percent more than a year ago.
"I assume that the price will continue to rise," said Heuser.
A liter of UHT milk costs 0.98 cents.
Heuser expects prices of more than one euro in the coming months.
Reasons for the price increases are increased production costs for farmers for animal feed, fertilizer and fuel.
In addition, according to Heuser: "The milk is really scarce."
The milk volume has fallen overall due to a shortage of feed and production stops at farms.
Farmers currently receive a national average of 43 cents per liter of milk.
According to Heuser, some dairies in Germany are already paying 48 cents.
mg/dpa-afx/AFP