Carer's challenge to the post-pandemic economic crisis

Despite the difficult global economic situation, caused by the increase in the prices of raw materials, thanks to investments made in the stock of materials and in infrastructures, Carer guarantees the best delivery times and the containment of price increases for its trucks.

In a general context of market economic boom, we have to deal with a global supply chain crisis, unable to meet the exponential growth of demand, creating inevitable delivery delays and economic increases.

This economic situation risks significantly penalizing companies, also hit by the rise in sea freight rates and by the negative impacts on import-export trade, which have increased the difficulties especially for the mechanical and manufacturing sectors.

Among the causes of the rise in prices there are also the weakness of the dollar, which favored the rush to supply raw materials, and the surge in transport costs: freight charges shipping for dry and bulk products, which had collapsed during the pandemic, increased by 682% in one year.  

A situation favored also by the choices of the shipping companies, which favored the export of Chinese raw materials to the United States, causing congestion in American ports, where the movement of goods was slowed down due to the problems linked to the sanitary emergency. The imbalance in the location of containers, concentrated in American ports, has also caused a serious shortage, with the consequent increase of 500% in just one year in the freight rates of container ships.

In this economic situation, the rise in the costs of raw materials and transport risks being reflected in an uncontrollable increase in inflation, with serious consequences especially for the mechanical industry: in the first months of 2021, regarding steel the coils have increased in Europe by over 60%, reaching prices of over 1000 euros per ton. A situation that negatively affects the automotive sector, already penalized by the shortage of semiconductors, the appliance sector and the mechanical and engineering industries. Similar analyzes also apply to aluminum, with an annual increase in prices of over 80%, and copper (+132%).

The hopes of returning to a normal situation are linked to the implementation of two measures:

1. the global recovery of international trade, through the reopening of all sea routes and the return to a uniform distribution of containers, to favor a realignment of the costs of sea freight and raw materials to pre-pandemic values;
2. the attenuation of protectionist measures at European level, which, due to their excess in safeguards against imports of steel and metals from non-EU countries, have slowed down the rebalancing of raw material markets.

In this regard, it is necessary for the Italian Ministry of Economic Development to ask with determination to temporarily suspend duties on steel imported from non-EU countries.

Despite the difficulties of the global economic situation, the prospects for Carer remain largely positive: thanks to the investments made in the stock of materials and in the upgrading of infrastructures, the company is still able to guarantee its customers the best delivery times together with a decisive containment of the price increases of its trucks.

For more information on the Carer range of electric trucks, please contact us by calling 0039 0545.1938010 or writing to info@carerforklift.com.