Printers are facing a buffeting as Australia’s major paper merchants say a depreciating Aussie dollar and ballooning supplier costs are to blame for price rises set for March which will see printers pay up to 10 per cent more for their paper. The unwelcome news for hard pressed printers will see the cost of their jobs rising by around three per cent, a rise which will have to be passed on as their thin margins won’t allow them to absorb the rise. And with treasurer Joe Hockey wanting the dollar to fall further printers are bracing themselves for even more rises in the year ahead.
Paper prices: stacking up
KW Doggett’s range will see increases of up to 10 per cent, depending on the product, from March 17. Simon Doggett, managing director of the family business, says the rises are related to currency devaluation. He tells Australian Printer, “By and large commodity grades are under the most pressure, so they will be going up more than some of the other product ranges, though it is quite varied. That’s why I say up to 10 per cent. “It depends which products we buy, where we buy them from, in which currency and where we have been able to renegotiate with the suppliers to reduce some of the impact.” BJ Ball is posting a price increase of eight per cent across its range from Monday March 31 – citing the need to deliver a sustainable business model for the long term. A company statement says, “Over the past six months we have incurred a number of increases from key suppliers, increase in ocean freight and various inflationary costs pressures. To compound this, in recent months we have seen a sustained depreciation in the Australian Dollar against the major currencies, affecting landed prices for January and Feb arrival onwards. After extensive review we are unable to continue to absorb these external cost pressures.” Spicers is also getting ready to up its prices in March, although it has as yet issued no specifics on the time or level of the increase, but it is certain to follow suit.
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