B2B Product Pricing Insights - June 2026
Stay ahead in B2B product pricing with easy‑to‑read insights on currency, freight and commodity market trends
June 2026: Rising Pressures Call for Smarter Buying
Welcome to the June edition of B2B Product Pricing Insights.
As the concerns over immediate price spikes abated, the threat of gradual and sustained upward price pressure across different sectors is feeding into multiple indices. Therefore, the market is losing, or has already lost, the flexibility and opportunity of the last 12 months. For Business Supplies buyers delivering volume to suppliers, a clear approach to total cost of ownership, and an active approach to sourcing will be critical for success in a generally oversupplied market.
Key Headlines
- Price pressure points are expanding
- Freight: Inland and Deep Sea rates are both moving upward, notably, Deep Sea rates have more potential to move significantly.
- Energy: the impact into manufacturing and distribution is expanding with contract renewals and new hedges.
- China: Currency, commodities, labour and energy all point toward future inflation.
- Commodities: more markets are reporting more impact of oil related factors.
- Delivering volume in H2 2026 is a priority for product pricing
- Consider collaborating on early commitment to volume through the supply chain to create an environment where planning and efficiency can mitigate some of the risks present in the market on cost.
- Looking forward
- Resolution of the Iran conflict and the recovery process hold the key to the alleviation of pressure and a more positive H2.
- Expect to see more buyers considering Indian manufacturers across a wider range of product sectors.
Currency
Summary
- The USD/CNY rate continues to be the key exchange rate impact on product pricing through inflationary pressure on Chinese exporters. However, the Indian Rupee has been added to the table to reflect the growing presence of Indian manufacturers in UK and European markets.
- GBP/USD: the consistent YOY improvements for nearly 18 months have plateaued out of the data.
- GBP/EUR: the rate has remained stable since mid-2025.
- GBP/INR: the currency has given a 10% benefit in the last year and 20% across the last two years. Highlighting a more competitive sourcing option at all-time high exchanges rates.
Further reading
Freight
China > Northern Europe
China > Northern Europe Summary
- The expectation in April that rates would rise as the Iran crisis continued were confounded by reductions. However, the momentum behind increases is now building. The summer peak season is beginning (annually driven by Retail preparing for Autum and Christmas) and early shippers will see a substantial benefit.
- May: approx. a 35% increase
- June: the first week was a further 25% increase and more rate changes and surcharges have been announced for mid-month.
- July: a bunker fuel surcharge is scheduled.
- As a guide, 2025 saw a 48% increase in rates between June and July.
Further Reading
https://metro.global/2026/06/01/capacity-tightens-and-rates-surge-as-peak-season-pressure-builds/
Inland Freight
Inland Freight Summary
- UK TEG index: TEG reported that the decline in haulage was against expectations, with lower consumer demand back up by GFK Major Purchase Index decline. They also noted that diesel was slightly lower in May.
- Diesel:
- The UK saw a slight and welcome decline in May but YOY increases remain over 33%.
- The AA reported Irish diesel price declined in May to an average of €1.97 (17% YOY).https://www.theaa.ie/blog/fuel-prices-ease-in-may-but-remain-elevated/
Commodities
Summary
The commodity picture has materially changed since 1st March when only European Steel had YoY increases over 1%. The negative influence of oil and energy pricing is adding an inflationary layer on top of sector-specific factors across many commodities.
- Packaging: Despite repeated mill attempts at increases, weaker demand and over capacity kept prices soft.
- Industrial materials:
- PVC: The market continues to look stable whilst balancing competing factors of oversupply and rising costs.
- Steel: Relatively stable in Europe and China.
- Rubber: The trend of a high oil price (source of synthetic rubber) increasing demand for natural rubber and overall market shortages continue to push up prices.
- Food commodities: Limited change as they follow the specific trends in these markets.
- Cotton: This has been added to the tracker as related products play an increasing part in Business Supplies sales through workwear and cleaning equipment. Part of the recent price rises are linked to the oil price through 3 factors: its main competitor is polyester, and higher oil prices push up synthetic clothing prices and create more demand for cotton products; cotton production is high energy manufacturing; and the cost of fertilisers.
- UK Energy: Pricing is inflated and will remain inflated during the Iran Crisis. The medium term concern on Gas is refilling inventories during summer for next winter.
A quick recap on some commodities not tracked in this newsletter that are more product specific: Aluminium futures have been rising for 12 months and are now +50% YoY; US hot rolled steel is +35% YoY; and Lithium Carbonate is +190% YoY. .
Producer Pricing
Summary
These producer output indicators and underneath them input indicators are all reporting consistently higher pricing driven by energy but impacting across sectors.
- China: Producer pricing increases accelerated to 2.8% YoY.
- US: The rate jumped from 4% to 6% in April and commentators reflecting on inflation moving beyond commodities into transportation and warehousing.
- UK: Producer Input pricing inflation reached 7.7% in April outstripping the output pricing reported in the table. The rate of change is rapid (January 2026 -0.3%). S&P also reporting notable front loading of orders and production to mitigate future increases.
- Euro area: The data is lagging events but the March 2026 rate is the highest since March 2023, and the country data for April shows further rises built in.
- Ireland is distorted by the scale of the Multinationals in the Pharma and ICT sectors. More relevant is the Irish wholesale price changes that show a YOY move from -5.5% in Feb to +1.4%in April. https://www.cso.ie/en/statistics/prices/wholesalepriceindex/
Further Reading
UK Manufacturing: https://www.pmi.spglobal.com/Public/Home/PressRelease/ff794184ddee4d528d7fbb4c8c7216c2
Consumer Inflation
Summary
This data is a largely irrelevant for product cost pricing but is often a datapoint referenced in price negotiations, therefore, worth tracking.
- UK: Goods inflation (2.4%) remains below Services (3.4%) but the gap in shrinking.
- China: The trend remains low levels of inflation.
- EU: The trend is rising CPI rates, now at +3%.
Final Thoughts
The lack of conflict resolution is turning a ‘bump in the road’ into a more challenging post-conflict 2026 environment.
The favourable recent environment that centred on how competitiveness is being passed through the business supplies channel is changing to how to manage a more challenging situation. However, the extent of that pass through means there remains some room in the supply chain to mitigate these challenges.
To make a positive impact, three Buying focuses standout.
- Supplier partnership and sustainability targets remain critical to driving mutual cost benefits.
- Delivering sales volume supports that partnership by retaining relevance and efficiency.
- Creative and active approach to sourcing ensures you have achieved the best overall deal in a transforming environment.
Stay connected and stay informed. Subscribe to the monthly newsletter and follow on LinkedIn to stay ahead of the pricing and supply‑chain dynamics shaping the market.
Author: Simon McLoughlin
Notes
- Refer to source data for full data methodology
- Currency taken from the first day of the month or the first published date of the month. Data should never be used for currency transactions or commercial agreements.
- Freight indices are taken as per the 1st of the month
- The Drewry Index is a better guide to spot rates and Freightos for contract rates.
- The tracked cost is the container shipping price in dollars and does not include UK clearance and freight costs to a final destination.
- TEG Index base Jan 2019
- UK fuel pricing is Retail pricing published weekly by the UK government, data taken as per the 1st of the month.
- Irish fuel pricing is Retail pricing published by the Irish Central Statistics Office.
- Commodity data is taken as per 1st of the month, when that data is not available the last available data is included.
- The Steel data for China is Hot Rolled and for Europe is Hot Rolled Coil which is a form of Hot Rolled Steel usually used in Business Supplies products
- UK PPI base 2015; EU PPI base 2021; China PPI base Same Month Last Year; US PPI base 2009
- UK CPI base 2015; EU HICP base 2025; Ireland HICP base 2025; China CPI base 2025; US CPI base 1982-84 (with exceptions)
Sources
Bank of England; ECB: Reference Rates; US Federal Reserve; GOV.UK; Central Statistics Office, Ireland; Eurostat; Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis – FRED; National Bureau of Statistics China; Drewry: World Container Index (Shanghai→Rotterdam); Freightos: FBX11 China→Northern Europe; TEG.tech: TEG Index; Trading Economics; London Metal Exchange; MacroMicro; Moodys; S&P Global
Disclaimer
The content in this newsletter is obtained from sources believed to be accurate and reliable. The information is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. B2B Product Consultancy Ltd assumes no responsibility or liability for errors or omissions in this content or for any actions taken based on the information provided.