Household items get costlier
Premium- Analysts said soaps continued to witness price hikes and year-on-year inflation is now in the range of 25-50% in case of most stock keeping units (SKUs) tracked by them
NEW DELHI : Higher raw material costs continue to push up prices of common household items such as soaps, detergents, toothpaste and noodles with some of the country’s top packaged consumer goods makers taking price hikes in April, said Kotak Institutional Equities.
India’s largest packaged consumer goods maker Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) raised the price of Pears soap by 9% and of face-washes by 3-4%. Product prices were compared to February 2022 levels.
In the laundry category, HUL has raised prices of Surf Excel and Rin detergent bars by 5-13% and detergent powders by 2-8%, Kotak said in report.
Analysts at the brokerage said soaps continued to witness price hikes and year-on-year inflation is now in the range of 25-50% in case of most stock keeping units (SKUs) tracked by them.
ITC, too, raised prices of Fiama Di Wills soap brand by about 11%. Godrej Consumer Products Ltd hiked prices of Cinthol and Godrej No1 soaps by about 5-24%, Procter and Gamble increased prices of Ariel detergent powder by 4-13% and Patanjali raised soap prices.
Companies have been facing inflationary headwinds for several quarters with raw material cost inflation exacerbated by the Ukraine crisis. Prices of sugar, wheat and barley prices rose 1%, 4% and 21% sequentially. Milk prices were up 4% too. Edible oils saw sharp price hikes due to volatility in global markets, Indonesia’s export ban on palm oil, and supply chain disruptions, analysts said.
Mumbai-based Marico Ltd., raised prices of Saffola edible oils by 10-22% while Adani Wilmar’s Fortune and Emami’s rice brand oil prices increased by 16% and 29%, respectively, the report said.
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In toothpastes, Colgate-Palmolive took price hikes in select SKUs by 2-18% while rival HUL and Dabur increased prices of Close Up and Babool toothpaste brands by 4-9%, respectively.