J K Industries Raises Prices

Indian manufacturer J K Industries has increased prices across all ranges of its four wheeler tyres by 2.2 per cent and hinted at a further hike in May, owing to rising input costs, particularly that of rubber. “The gap between raw material cost and the product price has been about 7 per cent. Even after raising the price of tyres by 2.2 per cent we still have a gap, which we are looking at covering with another round of price hikes in May,” said JK Industries’ Marketing Director, Kalyan Paul.

He said over the last year, the input cost has been rising gradually, which necessitated the investigation of price increases. “This affected the bottom line of the company. Now with the hike, we are hopeful of improving our bottom line,” he said.

“The price of rubber has been climbing from Rs 60 (1.10 Euros) per kg to about Rs 82 per kg now, and it is slated to touch Rs 90 (1.66 Euros) per kg in the June quarter,” he said, adding that the cost of other components had also increased.

“Carbon black prices have gone up by 9-10 per cent, bead wire by 12 per cent and other chemicals by 20 per cent. Under the circumstances, we needed to raise the prices of our products,” Paul said. However, he was confident that the increases in tyre prices were unlikely to affect sales. “This is the season for demand and we are upbeat that the increased prices would be easily absorbed by the market,” he said.