Henkel’s chief executive, Carsten Knobel, has signalled that the company will raise prices in response to the Iran war. Speaking to the “Handelsblatt”, Knobel said, “If our manufacturing costs rise dramatically, we have to pass those costs on”. He added, “I’ve learned from experience that waiting too long to lift prices only increases pressure”.
Knobel noted that Henkel is not an energy‑intensive business, so oil prices affect it indirectly. “The oil price hits our suppliers and logistics providers hard, and they in turn forward part of their higher costs to us” he explained. One of Henkel’s suppliers, the BASF group, has already announced a 30 % price increase for chemicals used in detergent production.
Henkel earns about half of its revenue from consumer goods-brands such as Persil, Pril and Schwarzkopf. The other half of its €20.5 billion total revenue comes from the adhesive division, which primarily serves industrial customers.
