The Price of Paper Has Doubled And Publishers Are Freaking Out

Publishers around the globe are drawing up worst-case scenario plans amid the soaring cost and scarcity of paper that threatens the future of their print newspapers and magazines, reports Business Insider.

Newsprint in the UK was priced at around 360 pounds ($426) per ton in the first quarter of 2021; now the price has almost doubled to around £710 ($841), said Rick Stunt, group paper director at DMG media, which prints The Daily Mail and dozens of regional titles. It represents a 40% premium on the historic high of 510 pounds per ton, he said. 

In the US, the price has risen by a similar percentage, to around $800 a ton, according to Stunt.

"These are big increases. We don't usually get this over an 18-month period," said Stunt. "In the past, really big increases were about 20 to 25%."

As demand for paper declined over the last 20 to 30 years amid the digital revolution, paper mills across the world shut down. Then along came the COVID-19 pandemic and the labor shortages and supply chain snafus that followed. Added to an already tight market, demand for cardboard packages soared amid the ecommerce boom. This year, rising inflation and ballooning energy costs have made an already bad situation worse for paper supply.

"From an industry perspective it's a disaster because you've got no choice but to reduce the amount of pages you print, choose to increase your cover price, or a combination thereof — and that will reduce demand," said an executive at the UK's Daily Telegraph who said they were confident they could absorb the cost by passing on the price to subscribers.

Other options on the table include reducing the number of pages printed, shrinking the physical size of magazines and newspapers, cutting certain editions — such as weekdays — and winding down the print product altogether, experts said. Time Out, Entertainment Weekly, InStyle, and a number of Gannett-owned regionals are among the titles to have closed their print editions this year, with most saying they planned to refocus efforts on their digital assets.

The spike in paper costs marks the latest in a string of challenges for the global publishing industry, which faces increasing competition for consumer attention and brand ad dollars against a slew of social, gaming, and  streaming  platforms. Publishers are also bracing themselves for a downturn in ad spending and a global cost of living crisis that might force some consumers to give up their subscriptions. That's not to mention staff salary inflation and rising fuel costs.