Paper prices skyrocket on rising costs, regulations, hitting broad range of companies

Domestic paper prices have surged in recent months as a result of rising production costs, affecting companies throughout the industrial chain.

Some domestic paper manufacturers announced price hikes of about 200 yuan ($ 29.14) a ton over the weekend, an in- crease of 10 percent compared with the prices in November, according to announcements seen by the Global Times. The firms cited rising costs for raw materials and transportation, as well as the cost of environmental compliance.

The rises began in November, a paper tube plant owner surnamed Cao in Wuxi, East China’s Jiangsu Province, told the Global Times on Sunday. He said that his supplier, Jiangsu Xinfeng Paper Co, increased prices three times during that month by a total of some 400 yuan a ton.

“I’ve gotten used to paper price rises. I have increased the price of my paper tubes by about 20 percent to 0.3 yuan each. But the problem is how to get through the transitional period when we adjust our own product prices,” he said.

A paper supplier in East China’s Shandong Province told the Global Times on condition of anonymity that higher prices are the result of regulations.

“The costs of coal and logistics services automatically drive up prices. Supply shortages are affecting us, too. Everyone in the industry knows this … it’s not our decision to raise prices,” the supplier said.

Transport regulations on trucks’ size, gross weight and maximum cargo weight issued in September last year indirectly increased these suppliers’ costs, according to the supplier.