Paper became more expensive by 50-70% in just 2 months, affecting not only printing houses and thus the book and publications market, but also the paper packaging industry, which is in high demand due to the gradual elimination of plastic packaging.
The crisis has caused the price of newsprint to rise from 520 euros per tonne in August-September to 750 euros today, and we have official information from suppliers that it will cost 800 euros per tonne, starting in January 2022 , the general manager of Artprint from Bucharest, Cezar Răsuceanu, for CursdeGuvernare.ro.-
But it’s not just the price that matters, it’s the fact that paper is getting harder and harder.
Container crisis
In 2020, China was the world’s largest exporter of paper, with 13.3% of global exports.
In the middle of the year, the pressure on China’s transport capacity increased, leading to the so-called container crisis. The price of transport has risen from an average of 2,500 euros to 19,500 euros for a 24-ton container.
The problem is not only the cost, but also the uncertainty, because when you place an order, the product does not matter, you do not know when it will arrive.
“In this context, Chinese goods, which dictated the price before, became uncompetitive and all the pressure fell on production capacities in Europe, which, however, reduced their capacity previously, when they could not adapt to Chinese competition.” said Cezar Răsuceanu.
An additional problem is that you are not sure when deliveries from China. According to market information, imports of printing products from China to the EU increased 4 times in the decade 2010-2020.
Wrapping paper
At the time of the problems on China’s relationship, paper consumers stormed European manufacturers, which could not, in any form, cope with such high demand.
Manufacturers in Europe can supply only 35-40% of demand from the continent, according to Artprint general manager, all the more so as 10 large capacities have closed recently.
Paper mills have struggled to survive for years as print publications have shrunk and gone online.
The cost of newsprint has dropped, so that production lines do not close, but the situation has reversed in recent years, when entrepreneurs in the field have begun to diversify their production, adapting to new demands.
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Which meant, first of all, the reshaping of increasingly popular products, packaging, especially since the pandemic has boosted online commerce.
At least 10 factories have closed in Europe
At least 10 large production capacities in Europe have closed or refurbished to produce cardboard, in recent years, mostly in Norway and Germany.
Norske Skog, a Norwegian paper company, announced in June the closure of the 66-year-old Tasman plant in New Zealand.
The Finnish company UPM also announced this year the sale of the Shotton newsprint factory in Wales to a Turkish manufacturer of raw materials and cardboard packaging, writes euwid-paper.
In Russia, at JCS Volga, where 70% of production is newsprint, packaging now accounts for 50% of production.
The supplier of paper for newspapers and magazines that fed the printing houses in Romania and most of the publishing houses in Eastern Europe suspended its activity this summer, after a technical problem and the refusal of the shareholders to approve the restructuring plan, considered much too expensive. At this moment, the owners of the Vipap Videm factory have decided to give up the business and are looking for a buyer, according to euwid-paper.
It was the only European factory with competitive prices for the press in Eastern Europe, the big companies in northern Europe being too expensive and with the production reserved for their traditional customers.
In the new situation, the publishers turned their attention to potential suppliers from the east, Belarus and Russia.
Belarus has come out of the calculations after the application of EU sanctions, and Russia is struggling with the huge demands received in recent months, and a country and a small market like Romania are not on its short list.
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