Good news for advocates of increasing birth rates in Latvia: condom prices will rise sharply 0 17

The world's largest condom manufacturer, Malaysian company Karex Bhd, plans to raise prices by 20-30%, and possibly even more if supply chain disruptions continue due to the war with Iran, said the company's CEO, Go Mia Kiat.

According to Go, since the beginning of the conflict in late February, Karex has faced rising prices for all types of materials, from synthetic rubber and nitrile used in condom production to packaging materials and lubricants such as aluminum foil and silicone oil.

He also reported that the company is seeing a sharp increase in demand for condoms, as rising transportation costs and delivery delays have resulted in many of its clients having lower than usual product inventories.

"The situation is certainly very unstable, prices are high... We have no choice but to pass the costs on to customers right now," Go said.