Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
(Operator Instructions)
And your first question comes from the line of Rick D'Auteuil with Columbia Management.
Rick D'Auteuil - Columbia Management
Yeah. It's Rick D'Auteuil. A couple of questions. The raw material impact on gross margins can you quantify that?
Vince Mish
This is Vince. In percentages, over the course of the year, it had some small impact but not a real major one. Maybe, just up a little bit.
Jeff Badgley
Jeff, I think you are looking more at the future, aren't you?
Rick D'Auteuil - Columbia Management
This is Rick D'Auteuil. I'm looking more at what you are seeing as we're getting into Q1 and whatever price increases have been disclosed by the suppliers to-date.
Vince Mish
We are giving notifications of intent to increase price from suppliers. We're currently fighting increases in terms of amounts. So to qualify the gross margin impact on a go-forward basis at this point in time might be a little premature.
Rick D'Auteuil - Columbia Management
Okay. Let's try to tackle it another way. What percentage of your cost of goods are involved in the commodities that are increasing, steel, aluminum, et cetera?
Vince Mish
Rick, this is Vince again. We haven't really disclosed that, and it's kind of difficult.
Rick D'Auteuil - Columbia Management
Vince, when you say its petroleum, aluminum, steel.
Vince Mish
That's pretty much it.
Rick D'Auteuil - Columbia Management
It is pretty much everything.
Vince Mish
Yeah. That's pretty much it.
Rick D'Auteuil - Columbia Management
Almost every part we have either has some kind of petroleum product, some kind of petroleum by-product or it's got some kind of aluminum or some of kind of steel. Do you have labor in their too?
Jeff Badgley
Labor is separate. I'm jut saying if you ask what percentage is being impacted by the commodities, Rick, I mean pretty much every one of our vendors is creating something out of one of those three items. They are trying to pass-through what they are beginning to feel. We obviously are saying, well, we are a high volume customer, go to somebody else or let's talk about what and when, and obviously, we're going to have to take a look at a price increase ourselves that we're going have to pass through to try to offset these rising costs.
Rick D'Auteuil - Columbia Management
Okay.
Jeff Badgley
Does that help you understand?
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