FIN Survey: Modest Cost Rise in 2005

Jason Sandefur

Just over 72% of survey respondents reported cost increases in 2005, while the FIN Cost Index dropped 7.3% to 3.8, as predicted in the survey last year. The cost index remains at least 11% higher than any year since 1996, excluding 2004 when costs soared.
Only 7.5% saw costs decline in 2005.
More than 80% of distributors claimed cost increases in 2005. The distributor cost index dropped 2.6% to 3.8. Nearly 25% predict costs will remain stable in 2006, while 63% anticipate hikes.
Nearly 70% of manufacturers reported cost increases in 2005, though the cost index slid 11.4% to 3.9. Manufacturers had predicted that costs would decline in 2005, though the percentage of decline was not as strong as expected.
About six in 10 manufacturers claim costs will rise this year.
The predicted overall cost index for 2006 is 3.5, with just over 58% of respondents expecting costs to increase. Nearly 31% anticipate costs remaining stable throughout the year.\
�2006 FastenerNews.com