With the cost of raw materials rising, Johnson Controls, Inc. has announced that it will institute a four percent price increase across the board to its lead-acid battery customers. The price increase will take effect March 1, 2008. "Johnson Controls continues to drive innovation and productivity improvements to keep costs down for our customers," says Alex Molinaroli, president of Power Solutions for Johnson Controls. "However, over the past year we have seen unusual increases in the price of raw materials and other costs associated with production and recycling. For example, costs of key raw materials such as sulfuric acid and polypropylene have increased as much as 200 percent in the last six months." While instability in the lead market has also been a challenge over the past year, the company reports that this price increase is not associated with lead. "We have worked closely with our customers to develop programs that fairly address volatility in the lead market. This increase reflects other extraordinary cost increases that we simply can no longer absorb," Molinaroli adds. For more information about Johnson Controls, visit the company's Web site. | 
