By Patrick Avenell
Whirlpool Australia today announced that it will be raising its trade prices as a result of global economic conditions.
In a brief statement released by the supplier today, an expected increase of 5 per cent was described as “inevitable,” and resulting despite Whirlpool “doing everything possible to avoid passing on increasing costs”.
“This [price increase has been] caused by the current economic conditions including the increasing costs of raw materials and transportation, dwindling Australian dollar and current US economic crisis,” said Whirlpool Oceania vice president Emerson Valle.
“The ongoing support of our clients and distributors is very important to us, and we thank them for understanding.”
This announcement comes a week after Sunbeam CEO David Jackson revealed that the small appliances specialist would be raising prices before the end of 2008. With two major suppliers having declared their intent, a domino effect is now imminent – it is expected that there will price rises across all consumer electrical categories before the new year.