Auto Glass Material Prices Climbed Again in November 2021 as Urethane and Shipping Costs Keep Rising

A monthly industry pricing survey found that material prices used in the auto glass industry continued to rise in November 2021. The increase extended a trend running through the second half of the year as supply chain disruptions, petrochemical cost increases, and freight surcharges propagated through the materials supply chain.

Urethane adhesive—the bonding material used to secure windshields to vehicle pinchwelds—was among the most affected categories. Urethane is derived from polyols and isocyanates, both of which trace to petroleum feedstocks that had experienced significant cost increases through 2021. Major adhesive manufacturers including Sika, Dow, and Henkel had issued multiple price increase notices through the year, and distributors were passing those increases to shops with varying degrees of advance notice.

Beyond adhesive, the November survey reflected increases in other materials including mouldings, fasteners, and certain glass part numbers. Glass pricing is influenced by both raw material costs—silica, soda ash, and energy for the float-glass furnaces—and by freight costs for transporting large-format glass from manufacturing facilities, which tend to be distant from major population centers. The shipping disruptions that characterized 2021 added a logistics premium to parts that were already under raw-material cost pressure.

The practical consequence for auto glass shops was a widening gap between the material costs embedded in insurance schedule rates—which are typically negotiated on a contract cycle that does not update monthly—and the actual cost of the adhesive, glass, and ancillary materials shops were purchasing. Shops that had not renegotiated their pricing structures since before the pandemic were increasingly absorbing costs that should have been reflected in customer or insurer billing.

For shops billing on NAGS (National Auto Glass Specifications) list pricing, the NAGS price index had historically tracked glass replacement costs with some lag. The rate of cost increase in 2021 was steep enough that even an upward-adjusted NAGS multiplier may not have fully covered the adhesive cost component of a complete windshield replacement in the late-2021 cost environment.

The pricing pressure documented in the November survey was expected to continue into early 2022. Shops that used the end-of-year period to review their material cost baselines, audit their pricing against current adhesive invoices, and open renegotiation conversations with insurance network partners were better positioned to maintain margins in 2022.