Rising material and labour costs not going away, cautions BM Catalysts

28 January 2022  

A more-than 20% increase in the price of stainless-steel tube since the start of 2022, and an ongoing shortage of skilled workers, have been highlighted by BM Catalysts as a stark example of the impact of rising raw material prices and supply chain issues on the sector.

Price volatility in the market is set to continue through the year, as a result of other price rises including a 100% increase in the price of slit coil and a 40% increase in the price of other materials used in the production of catalysts, DPFs and pipes.

Labour costs are also up, due to worker shortages, a factor that is expected to continue as as the result of national living wage changes in April. These will be aggravated by logistics, packaging and production costs having shot up at the end of last year.

Commenting on the issues, Mark Blinston, BM Catalysts Commercial Director, said: “We’re continuing to see unpredictability in the costs and supply of a number of essential materials. Furthermore, there is a real shortage of skilled workers, which makes retention and recruitment of direct labour much more challenging, and ultimately it’s lead to significant cost increases in that area of the business.”

He added: “Increasing capacity is a key strategy for us, as we continue to experience growing demand across our range of products and it is clear to see that to do this, labour costs have to increase. We will continue to work closely with customers to ensure we can meet the demands of the global market with our industry leading levels of availability.”