As reported in AP, Proctor & Gamble is raising prices on a range of goods, including grooming, skin care and oral care products, as higher commodity and freight costs are set to take a bite out of the company’s profits.
 
P&G is only the latest company this year to announce price increases; Colgate-Palmolive and Kimberly-Clark also made similar announcements. Accelerating inflation, climbing raw material prices, backlogged ports and warehouses, and higher transportation costs are all putting pressure on the consumer goods industry.
 
According to Andre Schulten, CEO of P&G, the company was paying more for resin, pulp, packaging and other raw materials, while it continued to experience truck driver shortages and rising costs for diesel fuel.
 
“We don’t expect any easing in terms of commodity cost pressures,” he said.
 
The company hopes that higher selling prices will lessen the impact. P&G maintained its outlook for the full fiscal year, which began in July, estimating core earnings per share will improve by 3-6% from the previous year. Total sales are forecasted to grow by 2-4%, coming off a year in which booming sales of toilet paper and cleaning supplies lifted revenues.