To Our Valued Customers,

The past year has been interesting, to say the least. We had all good intentions and began the year extremely confident we could hold pricing where it is, but unfortunately, we cannot. As of the 1st of September, Taipan’s products will increase by 4.8%. It probably comes across just like every other company having a price increase because they feel like it but unlike so many others, we are prepared to explain the real reasons.

It’s a little bit of everything but the main reason for this increase is the exchange rate of the Australian dollar and the rate at which manufacturers are now filling orders. One of our promises, when all the turmoil started a couple of years ago, was to increase stock holdings so you would be able to complete jobs effectively. You will have noticed the decrease in back orders, so you know we have kept our promise. In fact, we are now holding almost two and a half times the amount of stock we had just over a year ago. This is all good, but the Australian dollar has not recovered like the experts predicted it would, so we’ve been buying products with a dollar that is worth less. To top this off, a lot of manufacturers increased their production capabilities when COVID saw demand soar. Now that demand has gone back to normal or actually less than normal because everyone overstocked when lead times were ridiculously long. What we expected to be shipped in seventy-two weeks is now taking as little as twelve. And all when the dollar was supposed to be soaring to new heights but ultimately hasn’t.

Wow, that was deep, but I hope that explains things to a point where you aren’t inclined to punch me in the tummy the next time I visit!

Allan Sandilands

Managing Director