Paper Price Soars on the Way

Originally published by print21

Eight percent paper price rise on the way

Direct Paper will increase its prices for all paper and board products by six to eight percent from February, in line with a general trend of paper price rises from across the industry.

Australia’s third-largest paper supplier announced it could no longer fully absorb rising costs from paper mills, and as a result, would increase prices across all categories, including specialty papers, tissue papers, self-adhesive paper, coated paper, uncoated paper and packaging boards, by six to eight percent from February 1, 2018. “Increased costs can’t be ignored from our suppliers, and we feel as a business we should be getting on the front foot to communicate with our customer base as early as possible. There is no point surprising our customers with an intention to increase all grades in mid-January for a first February roll out,” said Dale O’Neill, sales director.

The move follows announcements from Australian Paper in June and Spicers in July that price hikes were on the way, with both suppliers increasing their prices by three to five percent in response to increased upward pressure on manufacturers. Global suppliers James Cropper and Mitsubishi HiTec also felt the squeeze in July.

“Following a sustained period of upward pressure on a number of our key input costs including energy, transport, logistics, and raw materials, we have notified our customers of the decision to implement a market wide price increase on selected uncoated woodfree copy and printing papers,” said Andrew Menck, GM sales at Australian Paper. “Australian Paper regularly reviews all components of our manufacturing and supply chain processes to ensure that we continue to provide our customers with superior service, high quality locally made products and market competitive pricing.”

“It is of utmost importance to Spicers that we minimize increases in costs from our suppliers,” said David Martin, CEO of Spicers. “We have been tightly managing the costs directly under our control, yet we recognize that the tight margin position of the industry means our ability to absorb supplier increases is limited.”

Industry bible Pulp and Paper Edge warned in March that price rises were overdue after prices went backwards over the past decade, and said they should be welcomed by those seeking to extract improved value across the supply chain.