Amid ongoing concerns over the LPG shortage, the demand for electric cooking appliances has risen across the country. With this sudden demand, there is a supply disruption for induction cooktops, according to Kaleswaran Arunachalam, Group CFO and head of strategy at Crompton Greaves.
Speaking to NDTV Profit, Arunachalam said, "supply chain is disruptive right now on this. The demand is heavy and the supply is short."
His remarks come amid a reported shortage of LPG, primarily caused by significant disruptions in the supply chain in the Strait of Hormuz due to the ongoing conflict between the US, Israel, and Iran. India imports nearly 60% of its LPG requirements, out of which 90% come through the Hormuz Strait.
What Consumers Looking For?
Highlighting the demand, he noted, "we are seeing demand not only in induction, it is actually in... electric rice cookers and also in kettles. All these three categories are seeing multiple x growth in the last few weeks compared to the average rate. This is also something that we see not only in ecom and organized retail but quickcom is also picking up big time in these categories."
However, the current demand is short-term, hence there, is no point investing in higher commitments as it may not be possible to sell out, he said.
In terms of medium and long-term, there is a potential for demand or consumer behaviour change. "While as much as we are capturing the demand right now, we are more thinking about how we make ourselves fit when the demand pattern and the consumer behaviour change in the medium to long term."
Key Issues
Emphasising industry concerns, Arunachalam said, geopolitical tensions are impacting consumer behaviour, while AI is bringing tech disruption. Additionally, seasonality is impacting in different ways compared to the past. "The way we are thinking about this, is it's pretty difficult to plan long-term here. We are taking it till March end. We are trying to see if we want to cover up to the demand that is available for March and then from there we want to see how things move," he said.
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