Kinsan Fastener News (Japan) reports, the Russia-Ukraine is creating a new economic risk that is pressing against the fastener industry in Japan. The increased price of materials is reflecting in selling price, but the Japanese fastener companies still find themselves unable to keep up with the frequent material price change. More and more companies as such find themselves shying away from buyers who don't accept the cost pass-through.

 It also becomes problematic that the price raised on sub-materials is yet to reflect in product price. As petroleum price goes up and triggers a higher electricity and utilities cost, it also pushes up the costs for electroplating, heat treatment, oil, packaging materials and tools. In some cases, it costs an extra JPY 20 per kilogram of electroplating. The Japanese fastener makers have been covering the costs for sub- materials because it is their convention not to reflect such costs in product price, but they are faced with the fact that sub-material price hike is a harsher problem to tackle compared to increased price of materials. Some of them have ended up in closing business. To the Japanese fastener makers, how they could quickly reflect increased cost on product price is a crucial factor that hugely impacts their business.

Source：Kinsan Fastener News