Festive Season Consumer Durable Prices Set for Sharp Rise Amid Raw Material Costs

Consumer durable prices are expected to rise sharply during the upcoming festive season due to increasing raw material costs. Industry executives attribute this increase to escalating copper, steel, aluminum, and plastic prices amid geopolitical tensions in West Asia and a weakening rupee against the US dollar.

Blue Star Managing Director B Thiagarajan stated that prices of key inputs have surged, forcing companies to implement price hikes. 'We have increased the prices to partially offset the huge escalation in the prices of copper, steel, aluminium and plastics,' he said. The latest round of price hikes will lead to a 3-8% increase across categories.

Experts predict that this could impact demand for air conditioners, LED TVs, and washing machines. Haier India President NS Satish noted that 'if we avoid taking price hikes, we will lose money. If we increase prices, sales may be slightly impacted, but there is no choice.' He added that copper prices have risen from USD 8,000-9,000 per metric ton last year to USD 14,500 and are expected to continue rising.

Amazon India's Director, Consumer Electronics, Zeba Khan, expressed optimism about the festive season, citing affordable finance options as a driving factor. 'No-cost EMI offered on Amazon brings down the effective price of a higher-value device by letting customers split payments into easy monthly instalments with zero additional interest,' she said.