Business Management - Industry Trends

BY MARK SMITH Predictions of the paperless office may have lost their edge, but not the threat of a paperless printing plant. One only has to go as far back as 1995 to find the last time some printers were faced with shutting down their presses for a lack of paper to run through them. The buyer's market of recent times saw printers, and their clients, being doubly blessed with a ready supply of paper at historically low prices. Everyone knew it was just a matter of time before the market swing came, though. In the case of paper, the more apropos saying would

BY MARK SMITH For better or worse, the fortunes of printers and paper producers are inextricably linked. If one sees this as an adversarial relationship, then the paper producers clearly are in a defensive position. Printing papers have been on a downward trend for some time and now are at or near historically low prices. Even the mega-deal consolidations among the major producers have yet to have any obvious impact on the level of competition in the marketplace. Lower paper prices are not necessarily good news for the printing industry, so say even those responsible for buying large quantities of it. "We

BY CAROLINE MILLER The price of paper continues to remain at an all-time low thanks in part to industry consolidation, a stagnant economy and weak demand. However, in the long term, market watchers are predicting that prices will begin to increase as the economy continues its slow climb out of the recession. The National Association of Printing Leadership's (NAPL's) March survey of printers found that just 9.8 percent of those responding to the survey reported that paper prices were rising. "That is just half of the 18.4 percent who reported that paper prices were rising last November," reveals NAPL Chief Economist Andrew Paparozzi. "In

BY CAROLINE MILLER It's a good news/bad news situation. The good news: Printing paper prices are very favorable and popular grades are readily available. The bad news: When prices are low and paper is readily available it generally means that the demand for printing is soft, as well. And that is exactly what the trend in the paper market has been for the past year. In late October and early November, just 2.5 percent of those who responded to the National Association for Printing Leadership's (NAPL's) national monthly paper survey indicated that paper prices were rising in that period. "It's the lowest we've ever seen that

Paper prices and production drop as a slow U.S. economy continues to plague suppliers. BY CAROLINE MILLER A flagging U.S. economy, an increase in offshore paper and the never-ending merger and acquisition dance among paper producers is continuing to keep the price of paper low, reports NAPL Chief Economist Andrew Paparozzi. In his latest survey of printers, 72.5 percent of those polled responded that paper prices are stable. However, what is more interesting is the growing number of printers that are reporting falling paper prices. In June 2001, 18.5 percent indicated prices were falling. That number has increased progressively from last summer when

BY CAROLINE MILLER As a weak U.S. economy continues to batter the printing industry, several pulp and paper producers have announced that they are either closing mills or cutting production. In a flurry of first quarter earning statements, companies such as International Paper, Weyerhaeuser and Sappi Fine Paper North America, among others, have announced plans to cut production in response to a softening economy. In its first quarter earning report, Weyerhaeuser says that it expects the slowing global economy to result in a weaker demand for production in all its major pulp, paper and packaging product lines. This resulted in Weyerhaeuser's decision to

Printers debate the availability and prices of paper as the economy weakens. BY CAROLINE MILLER It could be said that as the economy goes, so goes the paper market. And, in recent months, that has certainly been the case. The slowing economy has resulted in what appears to be a stabilization in pricing and availability, reports NAPL Chief Economist Andrew Paparozzi. "We saw paper prices continuing to aggregate along with the economy right through mid-year 2000. Prices really peaked sometime in the spring of 2000. Then, in the second half of the year, prices started to moderate significantly as the economy rapidly degenerated," he

BY CAROLINE MILLER The paper market is not unlike the direction of the wind: It can change directions at any given moment. For the last year, the price of paper has been blowing steadily upwards. But that may be changing, according to National Association for Printing Leadership (NAPL) Chief Economist Andy Paparozzi. "Things have been pretty interesting since March, when we began to start to see some change in the market." Each month, the NAPL surveys 500 printers across the country on paper prices and availability. In the past four months, the monthly survey has seen some dramatic changes that indicate rising paper prices

Industry consolidation continues, paper availability tightens and prices rise—but not by much. BY CAROLINE MILLER The April announcement that International Paper (IP) was upping the ante by making a $7.3 billion offer to purchase Stamford, CT-based Champion International came as no surprise to many in the printing industry. "We were not surprised by International Paper's bid for Champion," remarks Tom Hayes, vice president of marketing and sales for R.R. Donnelley Paper Services. "When StoraEnso paid a higher market premium for Consolidated than what UPM was paying for Champion, it was almost a fait accompli." International Paper's offer exceeds UPM-Kymmene's February move to acquire

Several friends were talking recently about the effect executive-level turnover has on morale at the shop-floor level. One industry veteran summed up his feelings: "The Barbarians are really at the gates now!" "Heck, they're not at the gates," replied another. "They've been here, they've gone and they're coming back for dessert!" The comment was met with very strained laughter. As I read through recent copies of Printing Impressions' Top Management News, I became unsettled. Amid the upbeat declarations of new contracts and plant expansions, there seem to be more reports of turmoil in the boardrooms and executive suites of many mid- and giant-size printers. We're