The ongoing Russian-Ukrainian war affects also the prices of bearings and related components. This is stated by analysts who assessed the current situation of the bearing industry worldwide. From March to April, some of the global bearing manufacturers, including the larger producers in China already increased the prices with an average of 8%.

According to available statistics, prices for more than 60 different types of raw materials have increased during the last month. The prices rised between 1,480 USD per ton, to the largest reached increase up to 21,500 USD per ton.

Due to the tense situation which in caused by the war situation, the prices of natural gas and electricity is also heated up, while the price of crude oil reached a new eight-year record. The rise in oil prices continues to increase the transportation costs, resulting in Marine companies to follow the trend. The cost for transit through the Suez Canal has increased since May 1, which is the third increase for 2022. This includes a 20% surcharge for the passage fee for container ships in the northern direction (Red Sea → Mediterranean Sea).

According to the sources from China, more and more medium and small size bearing production facilities in China choose to either actively or passively stop production, which may lead to a shortage of bearings in the market in the near future. At present, the cumulative increase in product prices in the Chinese bearing market (domestically) has exceeded 5%, and the largest price increase for many local bearing brands has reached 10%. According to the analysts, this is only the situation at the beginning of the second quarter. The increase in prices is likely to exceed 13% in the middle of the year, and may reach 20% during the year.

As a conclusion to the current analysis and future scenario planning, we recommend our readers to rewatch the two presentations of Karan Gupta, which was initially presented during the Bearing & Power Transmission session of Industrial Motion Meetings earlier in March.

1- Scenario Planning and Trust Amidst a Time of War: Imperatives to navigate today’s market and supply chain volatility.