Tasmanians received some sad news yesterday with Nine announcing plans to stop printing the Australian Financial Review and The Age newspapers in Tasmania due to rising paper prices.
Hours after making the announcement, local ABC news in Tasmania reported the media giant was reviewing the decision to cease printing at ACM’s Rocherlea print site in Launceston after backlash from newsagents.
Newsprint prices have increased by up to 80 per cent over the last year due to the European energy crisis, supply chain issues related to Covid and the trend of paper mills shifting production towards paperboard.
Nine managing director of publishing James Chessell said the decision is purely economic as paper prises continue to rise.
“It’s not a decision we have taken lightly but the rising cost of paper means it is uneconomic to print in Tasmania. We will continue to focus on our many Tasmanian digital subscribers who are able to access the increasingly-popular digital version of ‘today’s paper’,” Chessell told Mumbrella.
Nine & ACM have been contacted by Sprinter for comment but had not responded prior to publication.
It is unclear when production of the printed newspaper is likely to cease but the ABC reports The Australian Lottery & Newsagent Association chief executive Ben Kearney says Nine are now reviewing the decision.
“They’re going to look at that decision and consider some of the other options that might be available, so certainly from our point of view that’s really good news, that’s what we’ve asked for,” Kearney told the ABC.
“We’ve seen them use different methods to get the cost down [but] what they’re saying to us now is that the cost of paper and a range of cost imports … they’re just losing too much money on the product.
“The short notice period has been a major concern for some of our members and also the subscribers of their products in Tasmania.
“They haven’t given me any guidance at the moment around the time frame.
“We’ve offered to work with them and work with our members on considering all the possible solutions over whatever time period they give us to do that.”
Regional, community and suburban newspapers have been feeling the brunt of rising paper prices for some time.
Regional, community and suburban newspapers have been feeling the brunt of rising paper prices for some time.
In the lead up to the federal election this year, both the Coalition and Labor heeded the concerns of Country Press Australia and offered between $10 million and $15 million in funding support so newspapers could continue to be printed in country areas. A further $2 million in support was also pledged in financial support for paper miller, Norske Skog, which operates Australia’s last papermill located at Boyer, Tasmania.
Australia is now down to one paper mill – Norske Skog’s operation in Boyer, Tasmania.
In 2021 Norske Skog closed its paper mill in Tasman, New Zealand to address capacity issues. In October 2021 the company announced additional capacity closures for 2022 and 2023, including moving to paperboard production at its mills in Bruck, Austria and Golbey, France.
Earlier this year, The Real Media Collective CEO Kellie Northwood also spoke on this issue, saying a “perfect storm” was brewing for print due to mill closures, supply and demand imbalances, COVID-induced freight issues, the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on softwood supply, extended industrial action in Europe and global volume shortages which stood to hit the sector.
If Nine holds firm and stops printing newspapers in Tasmania, the only hard copy newspaper available in the state would be The Australian and The Mercury, both part of News Corp, and The Examiner and The Advocate which belong to ACM.
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