E&S List Prices Increases Hit Low Point In 2009 and 2010

Average list prices for equipment and supplies products rose only 1.3% for the 12-month period ending June 30, 2010, according to data from AutoQuotes Inc. The new data were presented as part of the FER President’s Preview E&S Market Forecast meeting Aug. 4 in Evanston, Ill.

David Greene, AutoQuotes managing director, European Operations, said the small average increase was the lowest annual increase since AQ began tracking prices in the 1990s. Media prices for the 7/’09 to 06/’10 period rose 2.8%.

Greene said the severe recession in E&S sales combined with plunging commodity prices last year allowed E&S manufacturers to hold or even decrease list prices. In the 12-month period ending in June, only 43% of manufacturers increased prices, while 19% actually lowered prices.

The number of mid-year price increases (i.e., the number of manufacturers raising prices more than once in a 12-month period) has ground nearly to a halt. Only 14 of the AQ roster of more than 350 manufacturers had a two-time increase in the year ending June ’10. In comparison, 64 manufacturers had two or more increases in the same period ’06-’07.

Among the product categories, only prep equipment registered a price increase above 2%. Seven of 13 categories had price increases of 1% or less and three categories—cooking equipment, coffee equipment and tabletop—saw list prices decline.

With commodity prices moving higher, Greene does expect more price increase activity from E&S manufacturers during the coming year. He said there has been an increase in the number of manufacturers raising prices in recent months.

Information on AutoQuotes products is available at http://www.aqnet.com/.  Greene’s presentation is available as part of the FER E&S Market Forecast package. See further details below.

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