Under the epidemic, a new round of price rise is brewing at the auto parts supply side. Recently, it is reported that Bosch plans to raise the product price due to the rising cost pressure of logistics, raw materials, energy and so on. At present, it is in the process of renegotiating the contract with automobile enterprises. In this regard, the reporter of the daily economic news asked Bosch for confirmation and did not get a positive reply. However, on May 31, Shenhui, founder, chairman and CEO of Weima automobile, wrote on his microblog: "Bosch's price increase is not hearsay. There are other Tier1 (also rising). The price increase this time is an essential chip."
"Recently, there is indeed a new round of price increase trend for auto parts represented by chips. In fact, since the second half of 2019, the prices of chip related products have been rising continuously. Basically, every quarter, there will be a price increase." On May 31, a designer in the chip industry told the reporter.
"However, it is not entirely a problem of chip supply. The epidemic has led to the shortage of other auto parts." An independent brand insider told the reporter that the supply of parts in the whole automobile industry is not sufficient at present.
The whole chain synchronous price rise chip is still the "protagonist" of price rise
"This year is a year of sharp price increases in the automotive industry, mainly caused by batteries, but other auto parts such as chips have also increased. At present, as long as the price increases are reasonable in the value chain, I think everyone can accept them." Recently, in an interview with reporters, chenyudong, President of Bosch China, talked about his views on the price rise of auto parts.
According to Shen Hui, chips are still the "protagonist" of the current price rise in auto parts. "We have made a simple estimation. The chip cost of intelligent electric vehicles has exceeded the battery pack. In this context, it is difficult for a single laser radar of 10000 yuan to continue to heat up. This also means that the electric vehicle industry has shifted from batteries to chips." Shenhui wrote.
The reporter found that auto suppliers have officially announced product price increases. For example, Infineon issued a notice in February this year, saying that due to the shortage of supply in the market and the increase of upstream costs, it was unable to bear the cost of spillovers and was planning to raise prices. Italy France semiconductor also said that the global chip shortage and the economic and geopolitical situation have seriously affected the industry. There is no sign of recovery in the short term. The cost of raw materials, energy and logistics has reached a level that the company cannot digest. In the field of automobile tires, in May, more than 20 tire enterprises such as Michelin and German horse brand also successively sent letters of tire price increase.
Affected by the upstream supply side, since this year, car companies represented by new energy have set off a round of price rise. According to incomplete statistics by the reporter, since the beginning of this year, more than 20 automobile enterprises have announced price increases, involving nearly 50 models, ranging from new energy vehicles to fuel vehicles.
"Now the whole chain is raising prices synchronously. The price rise of upstream raw materials causes the price rise of product costs. Similarly, our customers also say that it is acceptable after the price adjustment of the product. By analogy, the final result of the price rise may appear at the level of C-end consumers, which is a chain reaction." The above chip industry designers told reporters.
There are various reasons for price increase. Suppliers have no bargaining power
As chenyudong and others said, under the epidemic, auto parts suppliers have reasons to raise prices.
The rising price of raw materials is one of the important factors. "Taking chips as an example, the price of silicon, an important raw material, has been at a high level, and there is no material available. Because many raw materials of chips depend on overseas imports, but due to various factors, the import volume is not as good as before." The above chip industry designers said. According to the data released by the silicon industry branch, in April this year, China's domestic polysilicon output was about 58000 tons, and the overseas polysilicon import volume was about 6000 tons. However, compared with the silicon wafer output of about 24million kW, the silicon supply was slightly insufficient.
Besides chips, the prices of raw materials for other auto parts have not dropped significantly. For example, on May 27, the domestic price of styrene butadiene rubber was about 12300 yuan / ton, up 2.89% from May 20.
In addition, the above-mentioned chip industry designers told reporters that before, affected by the epidemic, logistics and other aspects, enterprises increased the scale of stock up in consideration of supply interruption, price increase and other issues. At present, enterprises in the industrial chain have a high willingness to stock up, which also leads to a surge in prices.
"In fact, another key reason why the price of auto parts has not dropped significantly is that China still does not master the key technologies of some auto parts, and many parts are supplied by international suppliers. Taking chips as an example, many chip manufacturing and production still depend on overseas. Of course, we are already doing relevant chip design and development work, but it takes a certain period of time." The above chip industry designers said.
The reporter learned that under the epidemic situation, affected by factors such as the transfer of goods and the nucleic acid of drivers, the automobile logistics price is 10 times higher than usual. These complex factors together lead to the high cost pressure on automobile parts suppliers.
However, compared with high prices, the automobile supply chain is more concerned about how to "guarantee supply".
"At present, we have no bargaining power. It is of primary importance for us to guarantee OEM supply." Chenyudong disclosed. The above chip industry designers also told reporters that the auto parts industry has an "amplification effect". In his opinion, "although some parts are very small, once they are not available, downstream enterprises cannot pay for the products. Therefore, ensuring supply is the first priority. Enterprises can accept appropriate price increases."
The prices of some raw materials have fallen back, and enterprises are taking many measures to ensure supply
However, at present, the plight of the automobile supply side has begun to see "export".
The reporter learned that the price growth of some raw materials and parts has slowed down. For example, the growth rate of raw material prices of "galloping" power batteries has begun to slow down recently. Some analysts at Goldman Sachs predict that nickel prices may rise by nearly 20% to US $36500 / ton before the end of the year, but then nickel prices will fall due to "fundamental pressure".
With regard to chips that have attracted much attention, chenyudong revealed that Bosch's procurement and logistics teams are crouching in the chip packaging and testing plant, regardless of the cost of local procurement and transportation. At the same time, Bosch has a special team to connect and track domestic chip enterprises, and has been trying to purchase some domestic chips to alleviate the pressure of chip supply. "At present, it is hoped that the chip supply will improve in the second half of this year, and there is hope for a fundamental improvement next year." Chenyudong said.
"Because of the epidemic, automobile production has been forced to be suspended, and the demand for chips has also been put on hold for a short time. In addition, the automobile terminal consumption is weak. If the market demand decreases, the demand for chips will also weaken slightly. These factors will alleviate the problem of chip supply to a certain extent." A person in the chip production industry told reporters that the chip supply problem may be alleviated next.
In addition, many auto companies are also using various means to alleviate the supply problem of auto parts.
First of all, reducing the demand for chips through technical methods is one of the measures. The above independent brand insider told the reporter: "since the outbreak of chip shortage, we have sought technical means to solve this problem internally. For example, the door may need 8 chips before, but now it needs 2 chips through technical means."
Secondly, more diversified suppliers are also one of the means for auto enterprises to avoid supply risks. "We have found more suppliers. Previously, there was only one chip supplier, but now there are many suppliers to jointly supply the chip demand." The above independent brand insiders disclosed.
Behind the multiple measures to ensure supply, many enterprises still said that they would absorb the costs by themselves as much as possible. For example, Shenhui said: "enterprises should do a good job in lean management to avoid the price rise of end products."