Australian retailers have been warned to expect significant and continuous price rises from their suppliers for the remainder of the calendar year as the war in Ukraine and fresh lockdowns in China batter the world’s supply chains.

Inflationary pressures have been mounting over the past 12 months as the persistent impacts of the pandemic have driven up the cost of nearly everything, including raw commodities, packaging, pallets and shipping costs.

On Wednesday, major dairy and drinks manufacturer Bega warned shareholders its full-year costs related to the pandemic would be higher than initially expected, exceeding $40 million, pointing to delays in China and the Russia-Ukraine war as key reasons.

“There have been increases in input costs associated with the outbreak of war in Ukraine and now also concern on the certainty of deliveries of products destined to the China market scheduled through the port of Shanghai due to lockdowns in that city,” the company said.

Costs have been rising steadily across the market, with Woolworths boss Brad Banducci warning earlier this year that inflation was “live and real” and that price rises of 2 to 3 per cent could start to flow through to the supermarket shelf.

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On Wednesday, veteran retail analyst Craig Woolford reinforced those warnings, telling The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald he expected prices would consistently rise through the rest of the year.

“We expect [inflation] to sequentially increase, roughly a percentage point of extra inflation coming through over each quarter for the rest of the calendar year,” he said. “This will affect the cost of food and a lot of non-food items like appliances, hardware and sporting goods.”

“Inflation was already building up steam late last calendar year, and now we’ve got additional pressures from the Russia-Ukraine war and the supply chain strains that are happening in China.”