August 2021 Updates
You are reading April 2021’s price increase notice. To read the August 2021 update, please visit: Hardware, Accessories Prices Increasing

Supply Shortages Driving Raw Materials Prices Up
Since the beginning of 2021, massive disruptions to the supply chain industry have caused price increases across the board. These challenges have impacted raw material availability as well, causing prices to rise on products that power your tracking solutions.

We know this is inconvenient, and we want to do everything that we can to minimize these challenges’ impacts to your operations. We’ve broken down which items’ prices are increasing, why they are increasing, and how we can help you stay ahead.

Boiling It Down: How Much Are Prices Increasing?
Across the entire industry, prices are going up. Let’s boil it down:

Label Stock: Prices have increased 5% to 9%. We expect to see an increase on label stock materials again this year.
Packaging supplies: We have seen multiple increases over the past few months ranging from 12% to 24%.

Prices Are Increasing Across The Board

Label Stock Material Increases
Severe weather, shuttered production plants and increasing demand have created a shortage for label stock items such as paper and film. As a result, label stock suppliers are working through a backlog of orders, extending lead times to up to a month. Prices on paper are inflating due to a shortage of key production supplies and freight delays. Most of these production supplies come from overseas, increasing lead times and production costs.

Low natural gas refining and crude oil rates are also to blame for rising film prices. These resources are essential in making films such as polypropylene, vinyl and polyester – all of which are used in your labels. Like with paper materials, most of these resources also come from overseas.

Production Supplies Increases
It’s not just label pricing itself that is increasing: Prices on packaging materials such as plastic wrap, pallets and boxes are also increasing. Suppliers are struggling to keep up with the demand for these products, causing delays and shortages. Demand for shipping has also skyrocketed, overloading the logistics industry and congesting ports. These shipping material price increases will also further increase your label price, as these are used to ship the materials to the suppliers and eventually to you.

Other Disruptions to Watch: Extended Lead Times
With shortages and freight delays, we have seen lead times increase again. Here is an estimate of the lead times we are seeing:

Custom: 3-4 weeks
Specialty materials: 6 weeks
Short-run digital work: 5-7 days

These lead times will extend into Q3 of this year, if not until the end of the year. In addition, suppliers are also beginning to see increased lead times for ink. There has not been any word on whether these lead times will trigger a price increase.

How You Can Stay Ahead
Start planning. Now.

The AB&R team is here to help you stay a step ahead of the game. Knowledge is power. It will prevent you from running out of your supplies before your order arrives. Call our team to work together to use what we know now to prepare you for what’s coming.

Next Steps
For more information on how these price increases affect your business, please call us at 800-281-3056 or fill out the form below. We’re here to help.

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