It is difficult to obtain a range of increases expected in 2023 by the various brands of household appliances present in Morocco, but these increases will take place. This is what several industry professionals interviewed agree, emphasizing that many factors come into play, including the product itself, the brand and its presence in a product category.
“It is certain that there will be increases in 2023but we cannot advance any amount for the moment”, tells us Laurent Chevrot, manager of the company Socimar, distributor of household appliances in Morocco. “The increases depend on each brand and the capacity of each to absorb the outbreaks of the different materials used in the production of their devices”, he specifies.
Since the start of the Covid-19 crisis, prices have also known up to 30% increase on certain products, we learn from these professionals. For the rest of the year, no drop is not planned.
Turkish products, the most impacted
The most eloquent example is that of the Turkish refrigerator, which represents 40% of the Moroccan market. This product, “taxed at 36% on imports since May 2022knew between 20% and 30% increase since the covid crisis to today”, confides Youssef Essaban, former commercial director of a local brand, currently senior consultant and trader in the household appliance sector. “The washing machine, whose the customs duty has not changed, suffered between 15% and 20% increase,” he continued.
“These increases were predictable and do not surprise professionals in the sector”, adds Youssef Essaban. “It is the result of a succession of events since the Covid-19 crisis, in this case the rise in the prices of raw materials and transport , made more expensive by the war in Ukraine, which led to a surge in the prices of oil and other raw materials.
Same observation with Yassine Boufloussen, director of the commercial and marketing offer at Electroplanet (Marjane group). “There have been price increases during this month of January 2023, and there will be more in the coming months.”
Our source, who confirms to us that he has received “increases for 2023 for certain brands”, notes that each brand is resisting in its own way to the current economic situation, marked by uncertainty and volatility.
“The distributors systematically impact the increases on the customers, unlike the subsidiaries which can bear them in part, in the absence of intermediaries. They will thus be able to reduce their margins or inject the marketing budget on the price of the product , to absorb the increases.”
“In addition, multi-family brands will reduce the impact of one category on the other categories marketed.” Others “rather go stop marketing a product that becomes off-market, or choose to technically impoverish it by reducing some of its characteristics, in order to be able to stay on the market price”.
“It all depends on the strategy of each brand to maintain its market share”, emphasizes Youssef Essaban. “The Moroccan market is small and the purchasing power of consumers remains low.”
The Covid crisis and the war in Ukraine at the origin of this outbreak
The soaring prices of household appliances can also be explained by a shortage of spare parts. “During the pandemic, many Chinese factories manufacturing household appliance inputs, including semiconductors and electronic boards, were shut down, which led to breakage of parts used in the manufacture of refrigerators, dishwashers and washing machines, among others”, emphasizes Youssef Essaban.
“So there was a problem of materials rawthe price of which rose sharply, as well as a rise in transport cost. It has certainly fallen recently, but it is still far from reaching the level of prices practiced before Covid-19. This is one of the reasons why all the household appliance factories have increased their prices”, estimates our interlocutor.
Yassine Boufloussen makes the same observation: “Morocco is dependent on imported raw materials, the price of which has increased since the start of the Covid crisis. On freight, things are starting to normalize. There is also the situation of the dollar and euro, which is unstable. When freight starts to normalize, the dollar goes up.”
Laurent Chevrot, for his part, evokes energy price which continues to increase. “Typically, the increases come in the sector at the beginning of the year, but there can be several increases over the yearas was the case last year,” he concludes.
