Pidilite may raise prices again as West Asia crisis pushes up raw material costs
Pidilite Industries said it may consider another round of price hikes as geopolitical tensions in West Asia have sharply increased raw material costs. The company said inflation remains manageable for now, but a prolonged crisis could impact consumer demand and overall growth
New Delhi: Adhesives and construction chemicals maker Pidilite Industries is considering another round of price hikes due to inflation in raw material costs arising from the ongoing geopolitical tensions in West Asia, the company’s Managing Director Sudhanshu Vats said.
The company, which owns popular brands such as Fevicol, Dr Fixit, FeviKwik and M-Seal, had announced a price hike in April, followed by a second round in May.
The company’s raw material basket, which is closely linked to crude derivatives, has seen a weighted average increase of around 40-50 per cent due to geopolitical tensions in West Asia, Vats said.
“The West Asia crisis, like for many other businesses, has had an impact on our business as well. It came towards the end of the quarter. Therefore, we were able to manage a bit of it, and I think it did not reflect in the numbers. But moving forward, our raw material prices have indeed gone up,” Vats said in a post-earnings briefing.
In line with its philosophy, Pidilite will look at the “weighted average increase” in its raw material costs, which is quite significant.
“So we are going to look at absolute rupee terms there, and we will continue to pass that on in a calibrated fashion to the market,” he said, adding, “We will continue to remain focused on growth while remaining within our guided EBITDA corridor of 20 to 24 per cent.”
Pidilite has already raised Fevicol prices by 12-15 per cent, citing surging input costs, particularly for Vinyl Acetate Monomer (VAM), a key ingredient sourced from crude oil.
“Our weighted average increase has come close to 40 to 50 per cent. We believe this weighted average increase, the absolute amount that is there, will be passed on in rupee terms through price increases,” he said.
He added, “Our focus is on growth and demand generation, but as far as the West Asia crisis is concerned, we have to manage it week to week and month to month because every day the situation is changing.”
Vats also expressed optimism that an interim settlement or pause in the West Asia crisis could materialise this month, which, he said, would help ensure demand is not significantly affected.
However, he cautioned that a prolonged geopolitical conflict and sustained inflation could eventually weigh on consumer demand.
“If the crisis continues for long, inflation could have an impact on demand. But if the crisis is contained, let’s say within this month itself, I personally feel demand will remain intact and inflation will be quite manageable,” Vats said.
He also said Pidilite has secured supplies for the current quarter and remains focused on disciplined execution, growth and demand generation while maintaining its guided EBITDA margin corridor of 20-24 per cent.
When asked about FY27, Vats said that despite inflationary pressures, demand trends remain encouraging at the start of the fiscal year, with consumption staying resilient across urban and rural markets.
“As far as FY27 is concerned, if you look at the initial period, April that has just gone by, demand seems to be buoyant and intact as of now,” he said.
While replying to a query on urban versus rural growth, Vats said, “As far as Pidilite is concerned, our rural growth continued to outgrow urban, but in quarter four, urban came up quite strongly.
“So therefore, there is an overall improvement in demand sentiment which happened in quarter four.”
Pidilite Industries Ltd has reported an increase of 36.63 per cent in consolidated net profit to Rs 584.15 crore for the last quarter of FY26. Its revenue was up 13.24 per cent at Rs 3,648.16 crore. In FY26, its total consolidated income rose 11 per cent to Rs 14,867 crore.
