E&S PRICE INCREASES REMAIN MODERATE, SAYS AUTOQUOTES

Average list-price increases for equipment and supplies remained moderate over the past nine months, according to new data from AutoQuotes Inc., even though materials prices have soared during the period. The average price increase was a moderate 2.2% for all 358,262 products from 411 manufacturers in the company’s database. The analysis covers the period July 1, 2010 to April 1, 2011.

However, noting that prices for  stainless and carbon steels, aluminum, copper and plastic resins have risen as much as 30% since summer last year (see FER Fortnightly April 12) , AutoQuotes’ CEO Kent Motes said, “There is some suggestion that price increases may accelerate in the next quarter.” The company reported an upsurge in new price increases during April, compared to the past two years.

He also noted that manufacturers raised prices on less than a third, 32.5%, of products in the AQ database. Probably because of a still weak market for new foodservice unit and facilities construction and renovation, manufacturers of shelving, fabrication and ventilation products raised prices less than 1% during the period, despite being most affected by the materials price run-ups.

E&S manufacturers also revised and refined their product offerings in fairly dramatic fashion, Motes said. Near 10% of the products—38,589—in the database were removed during the nine-month period, while manufacturers added more than 91,000 new models and products.

For more detail, including average changes for 16 product categories, click here.  http://blog.aqnet.com/?p=576“””