The world’s largest press manufacturer cited the “disproportionately sharp rise in material, logistics, and other procurement costs” as the reason behind the move.

Chief executive Rainer Hundsdörfer described the increase in raw materials prices as having “an unprecedented upward momentum”.

“Primarily due to the high demand from China as well as the global megatopic of electromobility, procurement costs have risen significantly in the short term. In recent months we have exhausted all possibilities to avoid an imminent price increase,” he stated.

“The moderate price increase that is now necessary will allow us to further expand our innovation leadership and is therefore also an investment in the future.”

The price of steel rebar hit a record high on the Shanghai futures exchange earlier this month, and although it has since slipped back it is still at its highest level in five years. 

Heidelberg UK managing director Ryan Miles said the likely percentage increase “depends entirely on each individual machine specification”.

Regarding consumables, where a raft of other suppliers have already announced price rises or surcharges, he said: “So far we have been able to avoid short term increases due to our smart procurement and inventory systems, but as we replenish stock at higher cost prices we will also be forced to pass increases to the market.”

Heidelberg also emphasised its focus on delivering benefits to customers through process optimisation and automation. Last year it decided to make Push To Stop automation and cloud connectivity a standard feature across its presses.

“Push To Stop packages are available and most presses are configured in this way due to the outstanding performance results achieved with this solution, however the Push To Stop packages remain optional for customers,” Miles added.

Heidelberg’s share price has risen to a 2021 high over the past week and was at €1.76 (£1.52) at the time of writing.