Price Rises Reported Far And Wide

Further to Pilkington's announcement of an oil surcharge on deliveries, several formal notifications of price rises from manufacturers have been announced. Kommerling Chemische Fabrik GmbH has announced sealants and adhesives price hikes from January 2005. Wacker Silicones is also increasing sealant production prices worldwide by an average of 15% and some segments will experience larger price hikes and DuPont has announced a price increase on all grades of Butacite polyvinyl butyral interlayer from January. Competitors are subject to the same raw material price increases and are expected to follow suit. It remains to be seen whether all these increases will be passed on to customers, but it looks extremely likely that many will.