I've heard a few people make observations that inventory in some of our big box stores is low i.e. the shelves in Bunnings, Officeworks is becoming lighter with less stock of line items etc.
Is this observation correct and broad based or just isolated?
If it is, what is the driver for this? The war is primarily a fossil fuel crisis with a shortage on oil. It is not like Covid where industry shut down across the board.
There are naturally shortages on petroleum based products - PVC pipe, plastics. I wouldn’t have thought plastics would be a large problem yet? Is it a freight issue?
Or is it a balance sheet issue, companies are driving down inventory in a period of uncertainly and potential demand destruction. I remember a few companies during Covid got caught out with too much inventory.
Is there any purchasing managers here that can shed some light?