Pricier condoms show war is impacting cost of nearly everything

The fallout across industries from the Iran war has now hit condoms.

Karex, which makes one in five condoms worldwide, is preparing to raise its prices by as much as 30 per cent as the conflict destabilises supply chains and drives up expenses, chief executive officer Goh Miah Kiat told Bloomberg News.

The surge in condom costs underscores how the Middle East war, which has already upended energy markets and raised prices for food to fertilisers, is disrupting virtually every aspect of life for consumers.

The Malaysian company churns out about 5 billion condoms a year for brands such as Durex, as well as its own labels, including ONE Condoms and Carex. It owns UK-based Pasante Healthcare, which supplies condoms to the National Health Service and provides private-label products to British retailers including Tesco and Boots.

The condom price rise would take place within the next few months, Goh said. “We have been in the process of adjusting prices with most of our customers, and this is definitely one of the biggest price adjustments we’ve done in a very long time,” he said.

Production costs for the world’s largest condom maker had climbed by about 25 per cent to 30 per cent since the war started as shortages of oil-derived chemicals and higher raw material prices rippled through the supply chain, Goh said. The disruptions were also pushing up the cost of condom wrappers and lubricants, he said.

‘In bad times, the need to use condoms is even more because you’re uncertain with your future, whether you’d still have a job next year.’

Goh Mia Kiat, Karex chief executive

Karex, whose product line-up includes glow-in-the dark and nasi-lemak-flavoured condoms, had enough raw materials to keep production running for the next two to three months, Goh said, but beyond that, the outlook was cloudy as the continuing supply of key ingredients was uncertain if the war continued. Shares traded in Kuala Lumpur surged 14 per cent on Wednesday, the biggest intraday advance since October 2025, before paring gains.

Goh did not rule out further price increases. “We cannot confirm in the future there will be no longer any more pricing adjustment,” he said.

The company relied on a range of petrochemical-linked materials, such as ammonia used to preserve latex, ethanol for packaging and printing, and silicone oil to lubricate each condom, he said. Since the start of the war, the cost of silicone oil has jumped about 30 per cent and nitrile latex prices have doubled, while natural rubber prices have climbed by a third since January.

Finding substitutes wasn’t straightforward given strict regulatory requirements for medical products such as condoms, Goh said.

Rival producers in regions such as India were grappling with even deeper supply chain disruptions, Goh said. The pullback of USAID donor support for health agencies to buy condoms meant organisations were turning to the commercial market, creating more buyers, he said.

For now, higher prices were not expected to dent demand because the market for condoms was virtually inflation-proof, Goh said.

“In bad times, the need to use condoms is even more because you’re uncertain with your future, whether you’d still have a job next year,” he said. “If you have a baby right now, you’ll have one more mouth to feed.”

Bloomberg

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