Manufacturers face raw material crisis, MAS survey finds

Research commissioned by the Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) NW on behalf of the North West Development Agency (NWDA) has revealed that a majority (75%) of respondent manufacturers have a problem with sourcing their materials, with their price becoming a major issue. Over half the respondents said that their biggest issue was with obtaining different varieties of steel, including stainless, mild, aluminium and sheet. Expanding world economies have slowly forced the price of steel and steel by-products upwards, and the Financial Times predicts that the price could rise by as much as 66% during 2011. Others were seeing problems with oil-based products such as plastics, acrylics, resins and paints and non-ferrous metals such as copper (which incidentally has risen from $2,000 to $10,000 a ton during the past decade, and is almost all imported), among others. And while some customers have seen problems associated with sourcing for 20 years or more, 75% of respondents reported that the main problems they are now experiencing have only arisen within the past three years or less.