Rising paper prices bring new pressure to the printing industry

Since the beginning of this year, the prices of major paper products in the domestic market have shown upward trend, with prices of white cardboard and newsprint increasing by 6% and copperplate papers increasing by 8%. Many people in the industry believe that the increase in paper prices will have little effect on printing companies. How many of these are real and how many are false? A few days ago, a reporter from "China News Publishing" conducted a survey interview on this issue.

It is reasonable to raise the price of paper

The reporter learned from the China Paper Association that there are many reasons for the rise in domestic paper prices. From the international perspective, international timber prices have been rising since the beginning of this year, and the cost of pulping has been continuously rising. As a result, some North American companies have reduced production or closure, leading to the supply of pulp in the world. Reduce directly. In the past, domestic paper mills were generally built at the processing bases for raw materials, such as near forests. The situation is now different. Due to environmental protection requirements, some inland raw materials are not allowed to be used. Paper mills can only use imported puree for production. The rise in international pulp prices will certainly cause domestic paper prices to rise.

From the domestic situation, during the “Eleventh Five-Year Plan” period, the state must eliminate backward production, eliminate grass pulp production equipment with an annual output of 34,000 tons or less, and produce pulp with an annual production capacity of 17,000 tons or less. For domestic small and medium-sized paper mills with annual output of less than 10,000 tons of wastepaper as their raw material, which have not met the emission standards, they have been shut down according to the national environmental protection policy requirements during the “Eleventh Five-Year Plan” period. As a result, there are fewer production channels for low-grade paper, and most of the funds circulating in the market are medium-to-high-grade paper. The price increase is also expected by people.

In August, the increase in the price of newsprint also led to an increase in the prices of other paper products. The overall average price of coated paper has exceeded 7,400 yuan per ton, and other paper types have also increased more or less. In September, domestic paper prices rose slightly from last month. In addition to the factors of international pulp prices, the price increase of paper by the international companies of the same type, and the price increase of waste paper and other transporters also contributed to the price increase. Compared with other regions where pulp prices are declining, demand in Asia remains high as the demand for wood pulp in the Asian region continues to increase. The reduction in supply caused by workers’ strikes in the Indonesian region has contributed to the difficulty in reducing Asian pulp prices. Domestic companies are subject to cost pressures, and raising prices has become inevitable.

Printing factory faces "transload" pressure

The reporter interviewed some printers. It was widely believed that if the increase in paper prices had no effect on the printing factory or it had little impact, it would be impractical. Without saying anything else, it is said that the printing factory, the publishing house, and the paper mill are all related to one another. Whether it is a publishing house or a paper mill, if one party is harmed, it will affect the printing factory. There is no doubt.

In the planned economy era, printing houses provided paper for the publishing company to process the products. However, after entering the market economy, the publishers also conducted market accounting for paper and felt that they had profitable space. They all set up their own paper libraries. Slowly, for the printing factory, it is basically a practice for the publisher to provide paper for product processing.

This year, with the rise in paper prices, new conditions have emerged in the printing market. Some “transfer loads” from customers are visibly invisible to the printing plant:

——The publishing customer is trying to reduce the input costs and press prices for the printing factory. Some printers had to give up their living because they could not afford too low a printing price.

——Originally, most of the publishing customers had their original tape processing, and now they are required to be processed by the printing company's own paper. Although some publishers have therefore appropriately relaxed the printing price, the relaxed standards are not in proportion to the actual paper price paid by the printing factory, causing some printing companies to be difficult to pay.

——Originally signed contract and agreement between the printing factory and the customer at the end of the year or the beginning of the year, due to the increase in the price of paper, customers now require changes to the contract and agreement, leading to communication problems between the printing plant and the customer.

- Due to the rise in paper prices, many publishing customers believe that market fluctuations are regular. To reduce costs, they wait for paper prices to stabilize slightly or drop down before processing. This shortens the product processing cycle and gives them the opportunity to print. The processing of the factory caused certain difficulties.

Focus on environmental protection to improve product quality

Many printing industry practitioners also feel that the annual paper price has to fluctuate with fluctuations in the market. However, this year's situation is exceptional. The rise in paper prices has occurred after the international pulp fell. This may be related to the country's "energy saving and emission reduction" activities.

In order to do a good job of “energy saving and emission reduction”, many small and medium-sized paper-making enterprises were suspended from rectifying or shutting down this year due to lack of environmental protection standards. In Henan alone, nearly 200 companies have closed down, and other provinces have similar situations.

Liu Benqi, deputy director of the army printing quality inspection station, said: "In today's increasingly strengthened environmental protection work in China, regardless of whether your business is large or small, you must be responsible for the local environment. You can't develop the economy at the expense of the environment, and then go ahead and pollute again. The road to governance. Local governments are also fully aware of the importance of protecting the environment, vigorously develop green GDP, and the paper industry has become an important regulatory object."

To do a good job in environmental protection is not only what China needs to do, but also the efforts of all countries in the world. In this regard, printing companies and publishing customers have expressed their understanding that they can accept the rise in paper prices.

This year, some printing companies have increased the cost of paper prices in the processing of paper. Many publishing customers have not complained about this.

Of course, there is such a phenomenon, some publishing customers require the printing factory to reduce the use of paper grades to make up for the rise in paper prices. For example, the original processed product used first grade paper, but in order to make up for the increase in paper costs, the printing factory was changed to second grade paper. People in the printing industry believe that this is not a publishing customer who wants to “sharpen well”; instead, for some publications, using second-class paper can also satisfy the needs of readers, and it will not affect the reading effect and the quality of books.

It seems that how printers and publishing customers respond to the rise in paper prices and ensure the quality of product processing also require serious thinking and active exploration to come up with a more scientific and sound approach.