After a serious increase in prices for most of the positions in February-March this year, there has been a negative price trend in the office segment. The most strongly occurring changes affected the rough materials — their cost fell by 13% for the period from June to August 2022.
The cost of finishing materials decreased by 12% over the period from May to August 2022. The largest decrease was demonstrated by flooring materials (-14%), as well as porcelain stoneware (-12%).
Engineering equipment was the least affected by the current price changes: for the period from May to August 2022, it fell in price by 8%. It is worth noting that the key factor in reducing the cost of goods in this segment was the fall in metal prices, which affected, among other things, cable products (-30%), air ducts and shaped products for them (-15%), as well as pipe wiring and fittings made of steel (-25%).
According to Pridex, in general, the current price dynamics in the office segment is explained by a stronger rouble, as well as the active development of parallel imports. Nevertheless, logistical difficulties still remain an important factor in the rise of materials and equipment cost.
- Alexander Aleynikov,Commercial Director of Pridex
"Thanks to parallel imports, we were able to partially resume the purchase of products from some manufacturers — these are mainly premium European brands. Nevertheless, the delivery of goods in this way means a significant increase in the logistics cost — according to our estimates, it is from 20% to 80%. In the end, the price dynamics will depend primarily on the exchange-value of rouble — especially for finishing materials and engineering equipment."