The heat wave triggers the purchase of cubes, which had barely been stored due to the high costs of electricity
Neither the aesthetics nor the size they present warn of the importance of ice cubes, which are part of the summer image of any beach bar, family and friends reunion worth its salt. Now, it seems that 2022 is not their summer, and that manufacturers and suppliers will not be able to make their particular August due to shortages.
The problem lies in the lack of reserves. The factories usually store the ice between January and April, in order to reach the peak of summer demand. But the cost of electricity caused production to stop and there were still no forecasts of the high temperatures that would go from one heat wave to another without giving any respite this summer.
“Reservations have been below zero for two weeks now. Most of the companies are marketing with daily production, which allows them to supply only the client portfolio,” says José Madrid, manager of the company Cubi Rapid. Such is the scarcity that this company, with distribution and wholesale facilities in Cartagena and Valencia, has reserves of 60,000 and 180,000 kilos, respectively. Amounts that, according to the calculations of Madrid, correspond to the sales of two weeks.
Among the reasons why the production companies have not been able to guarantee the supply of other years during the months of lower demand are the rises in the prices of the raw materials that they need to carry out their activity. Electricity is the main culprit in this equation, but it is not the only one that adds disproportionate expenses while subtracting all kinds of benefits.
In this sense, Madrid points out that they have gone from paying «3,400 euros for electricity per month in our facilities to 12,000 euros. The amount of electricity needed for the production of ice cubes depends on the size of the factory, but it reaches very high values.” Plastics have also suffered from inflation, the amount of which is paid quarterly. “Before we paid 1,100 euros and now 3,400 euros,” he says. And they are not the only prices that have become more expensive, because, “to give another example, an ice storage pallet used to cost 6 euros per month, while now it is 24 euros.”
No profit margin
Ángel López, manager of Cubi Playa, with headquarters in San Pedro del Pinatar, points out that the breakage of ‘stock’ is due to «the lack of storage due to the high cost of electricity. With the production that exists in Spain, it is impossible to respond to the demand.” That is why his company only supplies the commitments they already have, hotels and supermarket chains.
As for the final price of the bag of ice, he acknowledges that “we have passed on, but not the target price, according to the expenses we have” and anticipates that “further increases are expected.” So far, a large part of the producers blame the sale at a loss and consider that the outlook will not improve in the remainder of the summer because the high temperatures will be a constant in the demand. Consequently, they do not know how they will be able to save the summer season.
However, the situation of scarcity is generalized throughout the country and work is already being done to save some popular festivals and fairs that could be in danger due to this shortage.
Malaga seeks supply in the Region
Jesús Guardiola, partner of Cubitos Bumar, yesterday rejected the offer of a supplier from Malaga. “They wanted 50,000 kilos and were willing to pay whatever price he set,” he says. This request is one more of those that he receives on a daily basis, both from companies from other parts of the national geography and from Murcia, and to which he cannot give the desired response. “We have just enough stock for our regular customers,” he justifies. José Antonio García, manager of a dry ice company, has been surprised for weeks asking if his commercial catalog includes “the usual cubes for hotels and supermarkets. I don’t know what happened this summer, but there are a lot of desperate supply companies looking everywhere for supplies.” In that group of treasure explorers is Pascual García, gas station manager, who has already had to limit the sale of bags of cubes and crushed ice, like some supermarkets, to two per person. “We are going to spend a few days, maybe weeks, of shortages because the demand is very high for the supply available in Spain,” he laments. Regarding prices, he explains that “we have increased somewhat, but not as much as they have increased us. There are no benefits.”
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