Prepare to pay a little more for safe sex in the coming months as the price of condoms skyrockets in the wake of the Iran war.
The world’s largest condom manufacturer has warned it’s going to be raising prices by up to 30 percent because of supply chain disruptions caused by the chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz.
Karex, which produces about five billion condoms a year, blamed the war for the rising cost of the raw materials needed to produce condoms, including nitrile and synthetic rubber, packaging materials, silicone oil, and aluminum foil.
“Some raw material prices have increased by 100 percent. We have no choice but to make adjustments now,” Goh Miah Kiat, the Chief Executive of Karex, told The New York Times on Thursday.
Goh said that his company produces about a fifth of the world’s condoms, and being cut off from any one of the materials used in condom production will not only impact prices for customers, but could bring production to a halt and impact jobs.
“There will be jobs that will be at stake,” Goh said.
Malaysian company Karex produces well-known brands like Trojan and Durex, manufactures over 5 billion condoms annually, and exports to more than 130 countries.
Goh said that demand for condoms has risen this year, and warned that customers might start panic buying if the Iran war doesn’t come to an end quickly.
“Everyone hopes that this ends fast and swiftly,” he said.
