Consumables

Paper, much like print, is going through a turbulent time. In fact, the raft of ongoing consolidation in the paper manufacturing sector is painfully illustrated in our 'Pulp friction' feature, which reveals that over the past five years alone more than 1.3m tonnes of capacity has vanished (or is likely to) from the UK.

However, while that seems a shocking statistic, on closer inspection the reality is that the paper sector is simply attempting to self-regulate the balance of supply and demand. According to the merchants, the programme of closures and decomissioning is unlikely to affect supply, but it will ensure the fiscal health of manufacturers.

Understandably, printer fear that the loss of capacity, and therefore, arguably, competition, will result in paper price rises, but this doesn't necessarily ring true. If, as seems to be the case, the manufacturers  focus on closing uneconomical mills then the remaining mills will be able to produce paper more efficiently and cost effectively so that they will not need to raise prices unnecessarily to improve margins.

Well that's the theory at least, and only time will tell if it works in practice. While the manufacturers are taking massive strides to improve their lot, the UK merchants are taking a much more holistic approach to improve theirs.

In our second feature we take a close look at the National Association of Paper Merchants' Two Sides campaign, which aims to debunk some of the myths surrounding paper's environmental record.

The campaign has admirable goals, and even though its aim is not to increase the use of paper – merely right some wrongs – these goals should be welcomed by the print industry as they are by the merchants themselves.

Darryl Daniell
PrintWeek editor