The chip crisis hasn’t crushed Lithuanian carmakers – the pandemic is coming out strong

For his part, Andrius Rakickas, director of the Lithuanian Association of Manufacturers and Exporters of Auto Parts, said that the car plant that had entered the country due to the pandemic did not have a direct impact on Lithuanian companies.

“We don’t work directly with the car factories, so we don’t have a direct impact,” he explained.

However, A. Rakickas warned of rising prices for electronic components.

“The manufacturers of electronic components themselves raise prices from 5 to 10 percent. up to several times, and you see speculation in the secondary market when traders buy electronic components, who then sell them at prices 3 to 10 times higher.

In such a situation, as always, those who will be able to better adapt to changed supply conditions and maneuver by choosing component alternatives with shorter lead times, will work more efficiently with suppliers and will be able to quickly review and adapt product prices. that inevitably change. under these conditions he will win ”, commented the interlocutor.

Europe awaits recovery

As you know, the lack of semiconductor chips, which has been felt for some time, has been causing disruptions in car production around the world. Fiat Chrysler, Nissan, Toyota and Volkswagen have announced plans to adapt.

With the end of the pandemic and declining production, car inventories thawed due to increased customer flows. As a result, there was even talk of a car deficit.

However, D. Lasionis told Delfi that all these factors did not significantly affect car manufacturers in Lithuania.

“Lithuanian companies are increasing their order book and production this year. So far, the shortage of raw materials and semiconductors has not caused much damage. Clearly, rising prices of raw materials, supply disruptions are having a shock and some orders and production are lagging or lagging. This means that growth could be even higher if everything is stable, “he explained.

The interviewee reported that in his understanding, most of the orders from the cluster companies have significantly more than in 2020 and even more than in 2019.

“We are seeing a fairly rapid increase in orders and production, as consumer expectations are high, there is a belief that the vaccination campaign will work and Europe will return to normal in the fall.” Growth in the number of orders and production is limited by rising raw material prices and the lack of certain components (such as semiconductors).

No one knows exactly when commodity prices will stabilize and there will be no supply disruptions. This year, China’s economy is growing very strongly and consuming a large amount of raw materials and components, which is one of the reasons for the “supply disruption.” Some experts say that the situation will stabilize in the second half of this year, others say that without 2022 the situation will not change, ”said D. Lasionis.

The cluster companies mainly produce parts for the Swedish and German car factories. Supply of metal, plastic and rubber parts, electric motors, batteries, air, oils, fuel filters, cable straps, electromechanical systems and more.

It will last until 2022

Rakickas said the crisis in the supply of electronic components is global and affects all manufacturers of electronic devices.

“It is not yet clear how long this crisis will continue and different providers comment that the trends will continue until the end of 2021 and even mid-2022, although there are no guarantees,” he said.

The interviewee added a notable trend that supply is currently better secured by large electronics manufacturers.

“Those who order electronic components in advance. However, there are already examples where car factories, phone production, etc. are stopped. “, He said.

According to A. Rakickas, electronic component manufacturers are not yet able to meet market needs and distribute the amount of available components to existing customers, and they are not accepting new orders from new customers at all.

“In a situation like this, some ‘wins’, so to speak, are those electronics manufacturers who previously had department stores that have accumulated quantities of electronic components during 2020, when sales have peaked and can now produce devices.” , He said.

According to the website of the Baltic Automotive Parts Cluster, its members include companies such as Hi-Steel, Metec, Nitator-Slt, Arginta Engineering, Astra LT, Cie LT Forge, Proton Engineering., Stigma, Baltec CNC Technologies, SLT Industrial Components , AQ Wiring Systems, Baltic Filter, Schmitz Cargobull Baltic, Panevėžys Aurida, Arrival LT, Galvanta, Elameta “.

The Lithuanian Association of Manufacturers and Exporters of Auto Parts includes ABF LT, Augija, Baltic Filter, Craft Bearing, Danushis Chemicals, Paint and Coatings Factory, Detagama, Eoltas, Gaschema, Jubana ”,“ Jupoja Technique ”,“ Laurema graphics ”,“ Lesta ”,“ Luft Master ”,“ Nosted & ”,“ Papilio spark ”,“ Signeda ”,“ Xirgo Global ”.