For months now, Jarltech has been busy »pumping up« its inventory. Unfortunately, this effort is grinding to a halt. On the one hand, we are experiencing incredible growth, selling and shipping more than ever before. But on the other hand, the flow of shipments from our vendors is drying up. Very, very slowly, almost unnoticeable, but it's happening. The shortage of input materials in the Far East is now impacting our market. We are still partly missing goods that we ordered last September, and we are now partly getting goods we ordered confirmed for this coming September.

Sometimes vendors can still prioritize, because there is no real shortage yet. But those who need devices at a certain time this year should slowly start taking action, or be prepared to be flexible. You might not get exactly the variant you sold to the customer and will have to make do, but, as the saying goes: it’s better than nothing.

We also see a slight upward reaction in prices for project inquiries. If a vendor still has parts for 500,000 mobile devices this year, but requests for 750,000, why should they cave in on the price? Then sometimes an order goes to the competition, who can't deliver either. :-)

By the way, we do not want to conceal the fact that there are vendors who have handled this situation excellently, courageously and with foresight, and some who are now slowly starting to ask for forecasts of what the customers truly need.

This issue in the Suez Canal doesn't get us anywhere either. When I saw the first picture, it was clear to me that there are also containers for us on it. That’s just the way it is. Of course, there is also another MSC ship waiting a few ships further back in the canal. However, just because of this accident we should not allow the vendors too many extra excuses. First, the fees for the canal are more than urgently needed, so that the cross-laid ship will somehow be gone. Secondly, everyone else can detour around the canal, but that means three extra weeks. But it’s only three weeks and not five years, like some people are already suggesting. What is absolutely clear, however, is that in addition to the »piracy fee«, »covid charge« etc., the shipping companies will most certainly charge a »Suez rerouting« fee tomorrow.