The prices of commodities have soared over the past 12 months, seriously affecting consumer-staple companies which, in turn, are expected to pass rising costs onto consumers.
Statistics show that corn futures contracts have skyrocketed 96% over the past year, with cotton and wheat futures contracts also shooting up 54% and 50% respectively.
The price of lumber has seen a meteoric rise of 265% in the past year, to a record high of $1,326 per thousand board feet on Monday.
Meanwhile, this week Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey told CNBC his company would raise prices for its products due to the increasing costs associated with higher commodity prices.
Consumer-staple giants, including Kimberly-Clark, JM Smucker, Procter & Gamble, and General Mills, have also announced they will be raising prices because of increasing costs for raw goods.
JM Smucker CEO Mark Smucker told analysts back in November that “it was very clear that we were experiencing cost pressure.”
General Mills CEO Jeff Harmening told investors in March that his firm would also raise prices in the coming months amid inflation pressures. “So, I would start by saying that inflation is very broad-based, and it’s actually global. So, we are seeing it across the globe, and it’s broad-based across commodities, across logistics, across things like aluminum and steel,” Harmening said as quoted by the Business Insider. He added that the company would “use all of the tools” at its disposal, including “price and mix,” to offset costs.
Procter & Gamble said on Tuesday in its fiscal third-quarter results that it planned to hike prices for baby care, feminine care, and adult-incontinence products in September in respose to higher commodity costs.
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