Latest update March 24th, 2026 2:19 PM
‘Stock up now or pay later’ – CCI CEO urges
(Kaieteur News) – As tensions in the Middle East rattle global markets, the head of Caribbean Container Incorporated is urging businesses to act decisively, but not panic.
Chief Executive Officer, Patricia Bacchus told a forum on the crisis’s impact on global trade that companies must focus on strategy over headlines, warning that emotional reactions could lead to poor decisions. “Let us be guided by facts… not get caught up in the headlines,” Bacchus said, stressing that while the situation is serious, overreaction can undermine preparedness.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Caribbean Container Incorporated (CCI), Patricia Bacchus
Bacchus clarified that alarm should not be confused with being concerned as they are two very different things. She explained that being alarmed would cause someone to react very reactionary, therefore not being proactive to their approach in a situation. “So, my caution to everybody in the industry and everybody in this room is to just let us be guided by facts. Let us be guided by the reality and not get caught up with the headlines. Headlines are there for us to read, well the youths to click, but my point is, it’s not that what’s happening is not serious. It’s not for us to underestimate the effects of what’s happening…” she said.
The CEO reminded that what really needs to be understood is how the circumstances “will affect us, what needs to be done in the meantime and keeping up to speed with what is happening, continuously monitoring the situation and adjusting accordingly.” “It’s always strategic to plan so shipping companies, persons that actually have businesses and further business owners in the room, it’s important for us to have a healthy inventory. It’s important for us to look at the parameters those being affected, because ultimately, consumers need the products that we’re selling,” she explained.
Raw material price increases
Bacchus went on to say that she was not necessarily referring to products that were going on a shelf but in her case, it was the paper that goes into manufacturing packaging. Where raw material is concerned, there will soon be movement in prices in the coming days.
“We’ll start to receive the emails and the notifications from suppliers. So it becomes critically important to place orders. Now, your suppliers may not even take your orders because they’re still measuring the impact of the price increases on their own operations, but where raw material is concerned for productive activities, we have to move very swiftly, because in the coming weeks, and as long as the conflict continues and it continues to escalate, and we have scenarios now where gas fields are being bombed, as long as things continue to escalate, those prices will continue to increase,” she added.
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