More than 20 sanitary ware companies in the world have raised prices, and sanitary ware consumption has declined in some markets.
According to statistics from the US market research agency NPD, during the outbreak of the epidemic last year, the price increase of products in the kitchen and bathroom industries had almost no impact on sales. However, this situation will change in the first quarter of 2022. Rising prices have led to a decline in product sales of some companies. For example, in February 2022, the average price of bathroom products rose by 8%, while product sales fell by 2% in the same period, reflecting this year After the prices of local kitchen and bathroom products increased, consumers' purchase intentions tended to decrease. NPD statistics are supported by enterprise data. According to the annual reports of various bathroom-related companies, sales in the U.S. market will increase in 2021. European and American companies have also performed well in sales in the United States. The high growth of overseas business in 2021 is due to the Chinese and American markets.
The sales data of multiple companies show that the sales of sanitary ware products in the United States in 2021 will be good, which is consistent with the statistics of NPD. At the same time, the above-mentioned companies will all have price increases in 2021, reflecting that the price increases have no impact on the U.S. market. However, NPD's latest market research found that this situation will change in the first quarter of 2022. The agency cited data from February that the average price of sanitary products in the month rose by 8%, and product sales also fell by 2% in the same period. Come to the conclusion that price increases are starting to affect sales. Nearly 20 health companies around the world and 4 domestic ceramic construction giants have raised prices one after another In fact, stepping into 2022, the frequency of price increases in the sanitary ware industry has become higher. Nearly 20 sanitary ware-related companies worldwide, including American companies, have initiated price increases, including Geberit, Moen, Hansgrohe, American Standard, Panasonic, TOTO, KVK and other well-known enterprises. Since the beginning of this year, the epidemic has continued to recur, and the prices of various energy sources and raw materials have continued to rise sharply, resulting in a continuous increase in the company's production costs, and the rising trend of raw material prices has not diminished. Several major domestic industry giants are unable to withstand the pressure of rising costs, let alone some enterprises with smaller production scale and lower production efficiency. Rising raw material prices lead to a decline in corporate gross profit margins Just as the NPD survey found that demand in the US sanitary ware market has declined due to price increases, whether the same phenomenon will occur in the Chinese market is of concern. However, the increasing production cost of various enterprises is a common point of global enterprises, which is manifested as a downward trend in the gross profit margin of enterprises with the increase of operating costs. At present, the prices of various raw materials are still in the upward range. The prices of more than 50 kinds of chemical raw materials have increased compared with the same period of last year, and the prices of some chemical raw materials have increased or even doubled compared with the same period last year. Looking forward to the market outlook, many companies believe that the price of upstream raw materials will continue to rise, and companies have to raise product prices to maintain profits. It is expected that more companies will start raising prices in the second half of the year.
