Trelleborg Wheel Systems is the first wheel and tyre manufacturer to announce a price increase for this year.

The Swedish-headquartered company announced a price increase of 5-10% for its industrial, solid and construction tyres in Europe and North America, effective from 1 March.

"In the last 120 days, we have seen (rises in) natural rubber prices in excess of 50%," Trelleborg spokesman Roberto Zampieri tells Forkliftaction.com News.

The spike in natural rubber prices along with the global recession make it difficult for manufacturers to recover overheads, Zampieri explains.

He adds that Trelleborg had minimised the impact of rising costs for the last few years through enhanced production efficiency and advanced compound knowledge, but is no longer able to absorb material, energy and transport cost increases.

"Due to fluctuations in currency exchange rates and the impact of rising transport costs, we will be forced to apply a higher increase in North America," Zampieri says.

Trelleborg increased its tyre prices, by 7-10%, twice in 2008, to combat escalating raw material costs, while competitor Solideal put up its prices three times that year (Forkliftaction.com News #382).

In 2009, no price hikes were reported but Continental, Michelin and Solideal announced job cuts and plant closures as tyre manufacturers felt the impact of the global recession (Forkliftaction.com News #418).

Forkliftaction.com News contacted forklift tyre manufacturers Solideal, Watts Tyres and Continental to ask if they would be increasing their tyre prices but did not get a response by press time.