Over the last year – particularly over the summer – European governments scrambled to find enough oil and natural gas to last through the winter without relying on Russian exports.

The United States stepped in to help as well, and by August nearly 70% of our natural gas was being exported to the European Union. American steel, concrete, and petrochemical manufacturers had a hard time competing and were forced to pass their higher costs onto consumers. Fortunately, winter has been milder than many expected. This has eased some of the pressure on commodities manufacturers and caused prices to decline.

Expected manufacturing cost impacts from the conflict in Ukraine were not as extreme as was initially forecast. In certain sectors we saw manufacturing costs slow. Long-term forecasts for commodities continue to indicate a slowdown in materials price escalation.