Falling dollar to impact paper prices

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The country's two big paper merchants say the rapidly falling value of the Australian dollar will inevitably mean paper price rises in the coming months if the value is not lifted.

Price rises:Paper

At the end of last week, the Aussie battler sank below US60c, although it has since recovered a little ground to around the 62c marker. The Aussie, though, has lost more than 12 per cent of its value since the start of the year, when it was 70c to the US greenback. Its value against the euro has fared little better, dropping from 62c to 55c in the past month.

With virtually all commercial print paper imported, the merchants have little option but to send the price differences down the line to printers. Shipping costs will also be rising.

Ironically, the current drop in demand for print thanks to the effective closure of the tourism, aviation, sports, and fashion sectors of the economy has led to merchants having full warehouses, so any rises will not be taking place this week.

Tony Bertrand, marketing manager at Ball & Doggett said, “There is a lot of pressure on costs, coming through exchange rates. At the same time, domestic volumes have come off. We are looking at the pipeline, and the global players are already talking about price increases. The falling dollar will affect paper, ink, machinery. We are flagging the issue.”

David Martin, CEO at Spicers, said, “We have a fair bit of inventory. We will be aiming to pass on any price rises in staggered format, rather than in one hit. We are looking at what is on the water, at what demand will be, whether any lockdown is instigated. We are there to support our customers.”

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