For the second quarter, a further increase, especially in the prices of rubber raw materials, was expected. According to Michael Berthel, Chief Economist of the German Rubber Industry Trade Association (wdk - Wirtschaftsverbandes der deutschen Kautschukindustrie e.V. ), the extent of the price explosion was now statistically backed up: “At the beginning of the second quarter of 2022, the figures of the association’s statistics consistently show double-digit increase rates of material costs in raw materials used for rubber production. Thus, the current prices reach record highs in the data collection available for the last 15 years.”
Only between March and April, important synthetic rubber and silicone materials had price increases between 10 and 18 per cent, Berthel explains. This situation is aggravated by a gigantic price rise for soot (+20 per cent only in April) as well as chemicals and oils, which had a price increase of up to 30 per cent in the same month.
According to Boris Engelhardt, Managing Director at wdk, the combination of high costs for raw materials, doubled energy prices and expensive logistics stands for a triple burden of the industry with “full impact on the production processes of the companies”. “Already now, every second company of the rubber industry has to do without any margin for its products and 15 per cent of the companies already have to live off their equity reserves – with an increasing tendency”, warns Engelhardts. At the same time, he shows a further problem: “In addition to that, the increasing costs of big customers like e.g., from the automotive industry, are not negotiable. On the contrary: the suppliers are even confronted with saving programs and unilateral risk transfer.”
According to the wdk announcement, for the spiralling prices, there will be no light at the end of the tunnel. Moreover, further EU sanctions against Russia have already caused additional problems. “The industry will end up right against the wall without any political support and partnership from the whole supply chain“, fears the Managing Director at wdk.
