Posted on 06/04/2021 9:34:10 AM PDT by Intar
2021 has left the pressure sensitive label industry in complete and utter chaos.
Shipping costs and freight rates are soaring. Soaring freight rates, cargo container shortages, and port congestion have driven up shipping costs. Lead times have extended so far out, they are unknown.
A rising need for pulp and paper has far exceeded supply and demand, escalating raw material costs. Packaging supplies like sealing tape, stretch film, and ribbon are seeing price hikes to the moon.
We know these disruptions mean big problems for the label industry, but what do they really mean for everyday people?
Well, someone has to pay when the cost of goods increases. Up until now, manufacturers and suppliers have been absorbing these additional prices. But they can’t anymore. Now those rising prices are making their way to you and your wallet.
Drawbacks with freight means that need-to-buy items you’re looking for will either be low in stock or completely unavailable. The wait time for shipping for items you want will range anywhere from weeks to months. And there’s no end in sight.
Each leg of the supply chain has taken a massive blow, and the hits just keep coming.
I just bought some miracle whip and it was in a bottle with “57” mounded into the lid. As in Heinz 57.
FR’s own Travis McGee has been saying for a while that shortages are going to be presage societal tumult if not complete collapse. Most people, myself included, are waving our hands at some of this, but when it starts to impact our ability to get basic life supplies, it’ll be too late.
Just look at the run on TP, it can happen to any commodity.
In 2019, Bill Gates and friends ran a pandemic exercise. You know, to see what would happen if we got hit by a sudden pandemic. I guess that knowledge came in real handy when COVID-19 suddenly showed up a few months later.
Reports earlier this year was that the government was going to run a Supply Chain cyber attack exercise. You know, to see what would happen if we got hit by sudden Supply Chain problems. But, uhhhhh, what are the odds of that happening?
Slightly off-topic, but about two years ago I noticed that many stores were either no longer selling packets of spaghetti sauce mix, or had greatly reduced the shelf space for that item. Instead, they seem to be promoting pre-made sauces like Prego and Ragu. I’ve also noticed repeated shortages of clog removers like Drano and Liquid Plumber.
Don’t forget about the resin shortage. Even if they can move the product they are lacking containers. Those companies that survived the pandemic relatively well are starting to crash and burn because of this.
Prepper ping.
The supply chain problem has been going on during the entire pandemic. Companies like the one I work for absorbed the costs but can no longer do so. The price increases you see now are just the beginning. Think about the cost of EVERYTHING going into a product skyrocketing.
Thanks, Joe and Kamala!
Well I always wondered how long it would take for shipping costs to eliminate the cost savings due to using slave labor, and isn’t it funny how the Leftist Environmentalists don’t consider the “Carbon Footprint” of shipping goods halfway around the world ....
Typically a free market will respond to demand by finding novel ways to ramp up production.
As much as I want to agree with you, this one can't be pinned on those two idiots. The states should NEVER have shut down and coerced the people to shelter in place. That is the root cause behind all of this. Biden's destructive anti-economic policies are just exasperating the already adverse effects the shutdowns caused.
In Oct. 2019, Gates and Fauxi presented their mRNA-1273 pandemic vax (now known at Moderna vax) at the Gates Foundation’s Event 201. That was before the public ever heard of Covid-19.
Which came first? The vax or the pandemic?
Follow the $$$$$$$.
Better stock up, for my violin bow.
:-)
Our Walmart didn’t have yeast for the first year of covid. I had to holler and holler at the manager to stock it. They finally got in those little single packets but not the jars. That’s a significant price increase.
We still have shortages and limits. Strangely, there are no more reduced to sale/clearance items.
Beef and pork prices are out of this world.
Also, I’m still typing on a keyboard that broke at the beginning of covid. Found only one and it was out of the US so highly suspect.
Had to buy a new washing machine at the beginning of covid and it never cycled to spin so is a royal pain in the butt. Couldn’t get it fixed and now it’s out of warranty.
Something I read lately said with China chipping 60% of volume to us and we only ship 40% to them means there are a lot of shipping containers here in the US piling up. It is driving the costs of containers in China to new highs.
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