Industry body, the LEEA (Lifting Equipment Engineers Association), is urging its members not to sacrifice the quality of parts for its lifting equipment in the face of rising costs as a result of the war in the Middle East.

LEEA CEO, Dr Ross Moloney, says lifting equipment is a tight, small margin sector, with a lot of lifting equipment using materials which are energy-intensive to manufacture, such as electro-arc smelting and subsequent heat-treating of steels, and annealing of copper wire for motors. 

He adds some are made directly from petrochemical products, including the polyesters that go into straps, ropes, slings, webbing and personal safety equipment for example are a particular concern.

The principal polymer concerned is polyethylene, LEEA states, is created from feedstocks such as Naptha and ultimately from petroleum or natural gas, in a high temperature process before being remelted to create filaments before these are spun into yarn, and woven into a textile. These steps may occur in different countries or continents, and incur an increased cost of shipping.

Polyethylene is available in many different grades for uses ranging from clothing to food packaging, with manufacturers of the specialised engineering polymers competing for feedstocks and raw materials with other sectors. 

“All of this implies price increases and the possibility of availability issues,” Moloney adds. “This has insidious implications for our clients, the end-users of lifting equipment. 

“Faced with generalised cost increases, lower margins and possibly depressed levels of business, firms will seek to control costs where they can. 

“There may be considerable temptation to accept or specify goods of a lower specification, a less well-assured quality or even a more dubious provenance. 

“End users may also be tempted to economise in another direction: improving cash-flow by allowing ‘slippage’ in assessment and inspection cycles.”

Moloney says this places further price and availability pressures and it “may be that end users start applying pressure on existing partners or seek new contractors, who are willing to be complicit in a lowering of standards or other ‘economies’ that are just the right side of legal”. 

The LEEA says there are reports that in China, the cost of importing materials has risen by 30%, even though they are not impacted in terms of oil imports.

Moloney adds that while the Strait of Hormuz “currently moves between being open and closed”, any ceasefire will still mean time is needed before operations return to normal.