Oven Pride firm McBride sees ‘first signs’ of supply shortages due to Iran war

Oven Pride household goods group McBride has revealed “temporary” price hikes to cover increased costs from the Iran war and warned it was seeing the first signs of supply shortages caused by the conflict.

The group, which makes branded and white label household and cleaning products for the likes of Tesco and Sainsbury’s, said until now it had only seen a small impact from higher haulage costs due to fuel price rises, but said “these conditions have now started to change”.

It said the “most heavily impacted” chemical and packaging suppliers are pushing through price increases as they face rising costs for petrochemical-derived feedstocks and higher energy costs in chemical and packaging production.

“The first signs of possible shortages in supply chains around the world are beginning to emerge,” it added.

McBride said its costs are increasing this month and will rise further due to the war, and is set to lift prices to offset the hit.

“The group has already informed all customers about temporary price adjustments, or surcharges to current pricing, to recover these higher, beyond our control, cost impacts from the Middle East conflict,” McBride said.

The warnings come amid mounting worries over the impact of the conflict on supply and costs, having sent oil prices surging above 100 US dollars a barrel and causing widespread disruption to global shipping.

Supermarkets met with Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband at No 11 on Wednesday to look at issues caused by the war and agreed to explore together how to ease the cost-of-living impact for consumers.

McBride’s comments came in an update as it also announced a £34.5 million deal to buy Eurotab – a French-based specialist in cleaning tablets, such as for dishwashers.