Paper: more valuable than ever
14.12.2022 - Paper is a sought-after raw material. This is nothing new for the employees at Steinbeis Papier. But in recent months, it has been particularly scarce on the entire market - regardless of whether it is virgin fibre or recycled paper.
Christmas is the time for candlelight, Christmas trees and, of course, gift-giving. And what would presents be without wrapping paper! But will we soon have to do without the thrill of unwrapping? We're not there yet. However, graphic paper, i.e. paper used for books and newspapers, is currently a rare and expensive commodity. The shortage of paper is causing production problems even for large publishing houses and newspaper publishers - so much so that it is not clear, for example, whether bestsellers can be reprinted for the Christmas season. Although more and more companies are turning to recycled paper, this is also in short supply and manufacturers have had to adjust their prices.
Corona leaves its mark
The developments of the past two years are responsible for this. The coronavirus-related lockdowns acted like a time lapse and accelerated the development that experts attribute to digitalisation. Closed shops did not need advertising flyers and employees working from home generally used less paper than in the office. As a result, demand for graphic paper fell significantly during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. Some major manufacturers responded to this by closing mills or converting to packaging paper. After the lockdowns ended, demand increased significantly again, but the loss of these production capacities is currently leading to a shortage of supply. The remaining paper manufacturers have to meet increased demand: "We would probably have many new customers, but we are trying to prioritise our long-standing partners," explains Ulrich Feuersinger, CEO of Steinbeis Papier GmbH.
A contested raw material
But even that is not always easy. Lower newspaper thicknesses and cancelled advertising sheets have also meant that less waste paper has been produced in recent months - and therefore not available as a raw material for recycling. And all this while online mail order business is booming, also fuelled by coronavirus, and the pharmaceutical industry is using unusually large quantities of packaging material. The increased production of cardboard packaging is fuelling competition for the raw material and driving prices even higher. Recovered paper is around 80 per cent more expensive than it was in 2019, while rising transport, energy and raw material costs are leading to further price adjustments.
Plan ahead with foresight
In order to avoid bottlenecks, Ulrich Feuersinger advises customers and consumers who regularly rely on paper to endeavour to secure capacity with existing suppliers in good time. In the long term, they could also try to increase their own stock levels. However, it is difficult to predict how the situation will develop, explains Ulrich Feuersinger. Raw material costs and energy are incalculable cost drivers that are on an upward trend - especially transport costs. In the short term, publishers and newspaper editors are now reacting to the situation by reducing print runs and volumes. And hope that there will be enough paper for everyone again next year.
Due to the current situation, the issue of waste paper shortages has also been repeatedly addressed in the media. The team from the science programme Galileo recently visited the Steinbeis Papier plant. You can find the resulting programme here.
Cover picture: Paper Textures/Unsplash
Author
Valerie Bachert is a journalist, chief of staff and sustainability officer. She is interested in the areas of organic farming, conscious consumption, species extinction, social injustice and sustainable nutrition.
