MirkoBoeddecker
...is slowly hitting back.
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Ever since we’ve had the Dragi lira instead of the euro, the economy’s supposedly booming.
Maybe so – but we haven’t noticed a thing of it here.
What is certainly having an impact, though, is the euro-dollar exchange rate: the cost of raw materials is skyrocketing.
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Plastics, basic chemicals – everything is heading in only one direction: upwards, and fast.
By over 30% since last year.
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So far, we and the others haven’t passed much of this on to you, but that’s slowly becoming impossible, as we’ve scraped together and used up all our residues from the good old days.
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Tetenal will be the first to raise prices, and I’m sure everyone else will follow suit.
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This means that all products heavily dependent on raw materials (i.e. those with little added value from further processing) will soon see sharp price rises.
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I’m laying out the reasons here so that people don’t start saying again that we’re lining our own pockets. Because if there’s one thing we certainly aren’t doing, it’s that.
You need to thank those you voted for, who are putting together one bailout package after another, no matter how pointless it is – for Europe, of course, what else? In the end, all this has to be paid for somehow, and at the moment it looks as though we’ll have to foot the bill through rising prices (= a reduction in real wages). That has always been the easiest method.
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Best regards,
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Mirko
grommi
Edit: My post didn't belong in the photo lab forum, but in the off-topic section.
sputnik
Is there really NO place where you can escape the ramblings of armchair politicians?
A brief message about the price increase would actually have been enough.
MirkoBoeddecker
I think that if the reason is obvious, we might as well state it.
Quantitative easing has led to a significant expansion of the money supply, which initially flowed into ‘the markets’.
With the prospect of interest rate rises in the US, this capital is now flowing across the pond, causing the euro to fall further (after it had already fallen by 30%).
There’s a lot of pub talk about the bailout packages at the moment. That’s true. You can argue about that. But here too, the fact is that the ECB is the biggest provider of bailout packages, and those are sums that have been injected and will have an inflationary effect, which will reduce purchasing power. One way or another. And this affects wage earners in particular, rather than those who can profit from the financial markets thanks to their capital assets.
The first signs are already emerging in the photochemistry sector, as almost all of these raw materials are imported.
Overall, however, it is still within limits. Of the 30% currently being discussed, I estimate that around 12% will materialise by the end of this year.
Best regards,
Mirko
grommi
You're right, Sputnik, so: see above.
AchimBauer
Hello everyone,
All this reminds me of a mail-order company up north called, I think, Foto Müller, where, alongside their films, chemicals and paper, you can also order political literature written by the boss himself.
The titles are usually *Das Kapital* and............
They also publish a photography magazine with a political section.
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Best regards, Achim
MirkoBoeddecker
All this reminds me of a mail-order company up north – I think it’s called Foto Müller – where, alongside your film, chemicals and paper, you can also order political literature written personally by the boss.
You’re right – I always used to laugh at that.
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edit: my post didn’t belong in the photo lab forum, but in the off-topic section.
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That’s true – I’ve moved it.
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And on that note? In a completely innocuous way:
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The euro has fallen by 30% against the dollar (oh dear!). The raw material stocks are now empty. New raw materials are more expensive due to the weak euro and import costs. Photochemical supplies will soon become more expensive without the manufacturers benefiting from the price increase.
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Best regards,
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Mirko
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PS Just so there are no misunderstandings: I’m neither left-wing nor right-wing, and I have absolutely no issues with the market economy. I just like to take a closer look at economic matters. And what’s happening here right now is exactly what shouldn’t happen in a market economy.
Incidentally, I don’t belong to any political party and, at the moment, I don’t know who to vote for either.
jonny
Well, it’s probably little consolation that, following the boom of 2011/12, the downturn in the precious metals markets has at least seen silver prices fall significantly again...
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I recently made my annual trip here (the regional capital with a population of around 300,000) to the local waste disposal centre/hazardous waste collection point to hand in my photographic chemicals. When I asked, the employee told me that, due to the small quantities involved, they no longer collect fixing strips and bleach-fixing strips separately for silver recycling, but simply dispose of them with the residue of hazardous waste :(
MirkoBoeddecker
The price of silver is not actually the main driver of prices at present, and was largely responsible for the slowdown in price rises for films and photographic papers in 2013/2014. At the moment, Kodak films are naturally rising in price again because they are priced in dollars. The exchange rate is coming into play once more.
Films from ADOX, Agfa, Foma and Ilford are rising only slightly, as only some of the raw materials have become more expensive (mainly the base).
Compared to Kodak, this therefore creates a competitive advantage. This is the positive economic effect of the weak currency (explained using the photography market as an example).
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What the waste disposal company does is, of course, suboptimal from a sustainability perspective.
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It is relatively easy to let the silver sludge settle. Then you could either take only the residue of the fixer for disposal or (actually just tip it away). Very little silver sludge accumulates. In principle, it would be enough if every photographer drove to a recycling centre (Remondis, Degussa) once in their lifetime with a jar full of it and handed it in there. They’ll be happy to take it and return it to the raw materials cycle.
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Best regards,
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Mirko
