Prabhu RamIf you are planning to bring home an air conditioner, refrigerator or a washing machine in a week’s time or two, chances are, your nearest retailer may not have the full inventory to let you choose from. And it’s not a sulking salesman you are dealing with. You are out for shopping at a time when consumer durable companies in India are struggling with diminishing inventories.
And that’s because consumer durables companies in India – which depends heavily on components from China – have been affected by the pile-up of cargo ships near Shanghai port.
Talking to Business Standard, Prabhu Ram, Head – Industry Intelligence Group, CyberMedia Research (CMR), there is relatively high demand for consumer durables and companies had stocked up on inventories. However, lockdowns in China have still hit supply of components and consumers will face price rise across the board if situation is not reversed in the next month or so, he says.
Consumer product companies dealing in refrigerator and air-conditioner estimate supplies will be lower than demand from May onwards, owing to the heatwave and pent-up demand. The shortage in supply of consumer electronic components from China will only widen this demand and supply gap in the coming months.
Source: Business Standard
