Dallas, TX – Kimberly-Clark Corp. is raising prices for products including diapers and bathroom tissue as it tries to deal with increasing costs.
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Other consumer product companies such as Colgate-Palmolive Co. and Procter & Gamble Co. have recently indicated that they are also likely to boost their prices.
Kimberly-Clark said Thursday it will raise prices in North America for its baby, child care and consumer tissue businesses during the second and third quarters. The Dallas company is facing rising costs for wood pulp and oil, major materials for its products.
In January, Kimberly-Clark unveiled restructuring plans to deal with the problem of higher raw materials costs. The restructuring includes plans to streamline, sell or close five or six plants. The company expects the restructuring of its pulp and tissue businesses, which will be done over two years, to cost $280 million to $420 million.
The company plans to shed some products, mostly nonbranded items, and transfer some production to lower-cost plants to boost profitability. Kimberly-Clark is dealing in part with competition from less expensive store brands, which increased during the economic downturn. Many consumers are still trading down to cheaper items as they contend with high unemployment and a dismal housing market.
Kimberly-Clark said Thursday that net selling prices for items like Huggies diapers and baby wipes, Pull-Ups training pants and GoodNites youth pants will go up 3 percent to 7 percent on average in the U.S. and Canada. Net selling prices for Cottonelle and Scott 1000 bathroom tissue will likely rise by about 7 percent in the U.S. Price changes vary by brand and pack size.
Kimberly-Clark, whose other brands include Kotex and Depend, said North American net sales for its baby, child care and consumer tissue products came in at more than $4 billion last year.
I said it yesterday Glen Beck told 6 months ago that this was coming. The government and it’s phony accounting did away with items that are included in the
price index. The government should like a 1% year on year increase however it you based it on what it was based 10 years ago it was more like 12% increase. The government is spoon feeding you lies; but the companies producing product know the true cost and you and I my friends are going to pay the TRUE cost not the pie in the sky version. Numbers don’t lie but liars figure. This is only the bigging. The biggest cooperation who owns American bonds dump them all. This means the bonds are worth less and less or no people will buy them WHat will obama do
Print more money [great] and the inflation will go up and up. Think about the good old
days of Carter. Happy democratic days are here again.
Let’s see now, Kimberly-Clark has been losing customers to store brands because these store brands are cheaper. Therefore Kimberly-Clark is raising prices. And in the minds of the big honchos at Kimberly-Clark this will make people go back to buying their products?