UK components demand 'stronger than anticipated'

ECSN chairman, Adam Fletcher, pictured, said the rate of billings and booking growth is firmly in line with the association's forecast and likely to be so through the first half of 2011. "The consensus opinion of ECSN's afdec members is that customer demand in the UK and Eire (and internationally) is stronger than anticipated but remains difficult to forecast accurately," Fletcher said. "Electronic component manufacturers right across the industry are beginning to revise their pricing in line with the significant increases in raw material costs, in what is a painful but necessary process." Fletcher believes that many customers have already budgeted for an increase in component prices in 2011 but warned that authorised distributors should expect a period of difficult negotiation and review. "Given the current economic situation we must expect severe pricing pressure across the electronic components supply network," he continued. "I suspect that some customers may seek to move a proportion of their business between supply partners in an attempt to mitigate the unwelcome, but in the short term at least, inevitable price increases."