The cost of printing paper is going up Feb.15. That is not good news for publishers but that is not all. 2008 promises to be a year of paper price increases, some paper shortages and a longer delivery time on some paper orders.
The reason for all of this is four-fold. There is an ever increasing demand on North American mills to turn a profit, something they have not done in recent years. The two biggest North American mills have said “2008 is our make or break year. If we don’t stem the tide of losses and turn a profit then our days are numbered.”
The reason for their predicament is caused by a big decrease in the demand of newsprint due to the rapid decline in newspaper circulation. Most of the machines used to manufacture newsprint cannot be converted over to production of other kinds of paper. The two mills have permanently closed several of their most inefficient mills, thus taking thousands of tons of paper off the market . They have shut others down in an effort to cut costs. Unions are pressuring them for job guarantees. Meanwhile mills in Asia and Europe have been built with a lot less cost than North American mills because they don’t have to adhere to the extreme costs of environmental controls placed on domestic mills. They also don’t have the Union pressure domestic mills face.
Some mills, due to the shutdown of others, find themselves in a catch 22. They don’t have the capacity to take up the slack of decreased production. They aren’t making money, foreign producers can make and ship paper to the U.S. cheaper than they can produce it and, they feel, their only hope is in increased prices. The international paper scene is changing. It does affect you and your print budget. KOPCO buys from several vendors who have positioned themselves to bring you the best paper prices available by buying both domestic and foreign paper. At best the market is very volatile.
We know this is the most important element in competitive pricing. That is why we plan to keep you updated on the paper market and promise to do our very best to bring you the best paper prices available.
Ken George, Jr. President of KOPCO, Inc.
| KOPCO's mission is to continually pursue excellence in providing a quality product, quality and timely service, competitive pricing, and current technologies to an ever-increasing number of printing customers at a profit sufficient to assure growth, improvement, and continuity to the benefit of our customers, employees, owners, and community. |