The situation is already cross-sectional. The increase of the iron price, the lack of semiconductors and the rise of the cost of freight transport are affecting the manufacturing of all kinds of equipment, whether in the automobile industry, informatics or weighing. And, on the blog, we will explain the current situation on our sector.
Nowadays, a scale goes way beyond the weight. In Balanças Marques’ vision, it should be an innovative and technological equipment, that brings you automation and delivers all you need for your business. For this reason, the weighing sector and we too are being affected by factors like the increase of prices of raw materials such as iron, the lack of microchips and other semiconductors components and even the rising rice on transportation.
Follow our explanation about each of these factors to better understand the current situation on the weighing sector.
#1. Increase in the price of raw materials such as iron
The price of the iron, steel and metal alloys has been increasing for months. And it has even exceeded the peaks of the financial crisis in 2008. Among the main causes are the shutdowns caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, which have slowed the extraction and treatment of the mineral, and the huge search for this raw material, that is used in many sectors. Including the weighing sector.
In Balanças Marques’ case, the iron is one of the most important raw materials. Our weighbridge for trucks PCM M1500e, for example, is mostly constituted by metal, such as the bodies of the commercial scales in our BM5 range.
#2. The lack of microchips and other semiconductors components
This is a factor that has been widely reported: over the past few months, there has been a lack of microchips and other semiconductors components. The production simply has not been enough for the demand. That’s because the microchips are essential to manufacture a variety of equipment, such as smartphones, computers, cars and even fridges of the next generation. Thus, the lack of this little electronical pieces has caused delays on the production in many industries and already has repercussions in big companies worldwide.
As manufacturer of digital scales and technological solutions, Balanças Marques has not escaped this situation. The semiconductors are an integral part of our products of many weighing solutions, and, because of that, our sector has felt the effects of this shortage.
#3. Rise of the cost of freight transports
Lately, the cost of freight transports has risen. The price increase of the fuel, the intense demand, the lack of containers, the saturation of the ports and the lack of ships are only few of the factors that can be pointed as causes.
And, once more, Balanças Marques has witnessed the consequences of this rise. Our clients are all over Portugal and around the world, for what the freight transports are a part of our daily life.
Considering the current situation and each one of the factors that have been affecting the weighing sector (and many others), you can see that we are facing a new big challenge. We count on the understanding of our partners and clients to get through it!
