Transitioning to 2021 was fairly smooth from the previous year, with solid demand and continued growth within our existing customer base while we continued to expand into new markets.
Toward the spring, we started to feel the effects of shipping increases, labor shortages and rising costs of raw materials. Unfortunately, shipping rates continue to rise, and we are doing our best to manage and absorb these costs as much as we can, limiting the amount that is passed onto the customer. This has not been an easy battle.
We have been able to greatly limit delays on receiving our products from our European foundry. Because we have been able to keep our supply chain healthy, and because we anticipated early on that there could be unforeseen delays later in 2021, we were able to maintain a large stock of crusher castings and wear parts in our warehouses across the U.S. and Canada.
Our top challenge this year was shipping delays, port congestion, drastic increases in ocean, rail and inland freight costs, and rising raw materials costs. Then, there is inflation, which just hit the highest year-on-year rise since 1990. I think all Americans can agree that they are feeling the effects of a mid/post-pandemic world that none of us had ever imagined.
Our performance aftermarket products continue to grow year over year, and we expect to see the same throughout 2022. It will be no easy task to manage shipping challenges, but we are confident in our team of logistics personnel, analysts, procurement and foundry production heads to keep our supply of castings uninterrupted.
I keep coming back to freight and container costs. This is single handedly the biggest share of rising costs we have seen across all sectors in our industry and others alike.
Vinnie Rocco is COO of AMCAST.