Publishers want to see a gradual rise in prices, as both producers and publishers benefit from price stability, Scott told Pulp & Paper Internationals Publication and Business Papers conference, staged in London this week.

Our business is a predictable one, and we [the publishers] are loyal customers, Scott added.

And he said that paper producers would be the first ones to benefit once an upturn in the market materialised.

But the printing sector will continue to suffer, according to Adam Smith, head of knowledge management at media agency Zenith Optimedia Group.

He said that he expected the industry to continue to underperform through 2003, with the first signs of a recovery forecast for 2004.

Smith said that his firm anticipated that advertising in newspapers and magazines would continue to fall behind other media during a recovery, and that the printing sector would continue to be one of those industries that would be hit hardest.