We have been hearing about missing chips in the automotive industry for months, but other industries, including many of our customers, are also affected.
As far as the supply of ICs is concerned, the situation is not expected to ease until 2023. Production capacities cannot be expanded in the short term, and in addition many companies have now placed long-term orders, so supply will be even tighter.
The shortage now affects not only ICs, but electronic components in general and now also the raw materials required for production. The reasons for the shortage are manifold, the increased demand after the pandemic has subsided, at the same time still missing personnel in raw material supplying countries, as they are not yet back at work after the pandemic, up to missing electricity and transport capacities in China.
With the increasing demand for raw materials, coal prices have also exploded, a raw material on which China still urgently depends in its power plants. Due to fixed energy prices and the expensive imported coal, especially from Australia, the power plants no longer pay for themselves, the operators curb production and there are power cuts.
Freight capacity from China also remains limited due to the strict no-covid strategy. Regularly, overseas and airports are put into lockdowns due to individual covid cases. In addition, some airports operate on the 7/7/7 principle (7 days working, 7 days hotel quarantine, 7 days home quarantine) for security, resulting in fewer staff available. Prices for sea freight are now almost approaching those of air freight due to the lack of containers. Even the previous "insider tip", transport by train, is fully booked in the long term. The situation is now being exacerbated by the coming peak season. Every year before Christmas and the production pause during the Chinese New Year, transport prices rise massively.
Due to the situation described, significantly longer delivery times of 20+ weeks and price increases of 15-20% must currently be expected, in some cases even significantly more. Short-term deliveries are actually only possible via component purchases on the spot market and business transport tariffs. Our request therefore: order early!
