Blog
Important: Material Availability Update
Posted: July 28, 2021 |
July 16, 2021
Dear Valued Steven Label & Robinson Printing Customer,
As we begin the second half of the year, we want to share an update with you regarding the raw materials markets and outlook for the next several months.
This year has been particularly challenging for our industry. Raw material supply has been plagued by issues due to severe weather and record-high demand. Freight and logistics have been impacted by elevated truckload demand and diesel costs. Supply chains have not recovered as quickly as our material suppliers had anticipated, and the raw material forecast shows continued turbulence. For those customers who purchase the complete suite of products from us — labels, product instructions and folding cartons — the challenges remain similar for all materials which have been more difficult to obtain and are coming at a higher cost.
We expect to have continued challenges through at least the early fall but we have increased our inventories of commonly used materials to help us maintain our service levels. We recommend that you allow for the possibility of delays. We will work with you at the time of your order to provide current lead times and pricing.
We have heard from nearly every one of our material suppliers to expect rising costs and the potential for some material availability disruptions through the second half of the year. Our suppliers tell us they are hopeful for some of the pressure to ease late in the fourth quarter. Additionally, we expect raw material costs to remain well above previous year levels. Paper, Polypropylene, polyester, adhesives, resin and silicone suppliers have increased prices several times in the first half ranging from 5-10% at each juncture; so the cumulative effect has really been somewhat daunting.
We are closely monitoring the situation and want to communicate as proactively as possible to ensure our customers are aware of these challenges. In some cases, we have been able to mitigate inflation and manage one-time costs to ensure material availability thus far.
Additionally, we are happy to offer alternative materials for evaluation should there be an extended material lead time that won’t work for your production schedule.
Please contact your sales / customer service team if you have any questions, or need further information. We look forward to getting back out to see you over the coming months. Thank you for your continued support and we look forward to serving you in the future.
Sincerely,
Don Chelius
Vice President of Sales and Marketing
