At the beginning of every year, the US President delivers a "state of the union" address, so I thought it might be of interest to readers of this blog to read about the current state of the paper industry.
An article which appears in this month's
Print Business magazine has an excellent summary of the industry, which with their kind permission, I have reproduced here...
Paper producers strive for balance
While it is less necessary than in the past, paper remains the key substrate for all manner of printers and UK consumption is falling and has been falling for a number of years. This does not automatically equate to a similar decline in print jobs: shorter print runs and so on will have a greater impact on consumption of paper. Take newspapers for example. Newspaper volumes are dropping, but this is not matched by the disappearance of titles.
Across Europe, Euro-graph, and association of paper producing mills, reckons that demand for newsprint had after ten months fallen 6.4% in 2019.
The British Printing Industries Federation (BPIF) referring to to figures from the
Confederation of Paper Industries, reckons newsprint demand in the UK is down 6.3%. However there is divergence with other types of paper, reflecting the relative popularity of certain paper types in different countries.
According to Euro-graph demand for all types of printing grades of paper is 7.9% down. This excludes boards and packaging grades and specialist papers used for all manner of purposes, filters, wadding, insulation, batteries and more.
The BPIF puts the total decline for graphic papers at 3.5%, 2.4% if newsprint is excluded. The UK figures may also have been distorted by stockpiling ahead of the planned brexit deadlines, in the spring and at the end of October.
Across Europe demand for coated woodfree papers was down 9.7% and demand for uncoated woodfree papers was 3.9% lower. This is a significant difference to the UK equivalents where coated woodfree (CWF) exhibited a growth in the second quarter of 2019 compared to 2018.
This, however, is not likely to prevent the closure of paper production capacity. In coated woodfree, the looming closure of
StoraEnso's Oulu mill to CWF production in September this year will remove 1.3 million tonnes from the European market, roughly equivalent to the current excess of supply over demand.
This also explains the difficulties that some mills have had in emerging from liquidation under new financial backers. Demand has continued to slide:
Sappi reckons that overall demand is down 13% a year and is looking for a way to match capacity to demand. Others are doing the same and if they succeed will allow paper suppliers to strengthen prices later in the year.
The above article is an extract from the full article, which you can read here:
https://printbusiness.co.uk/news/The-shape-of-the-UK-printing-industry-is-still-changing/123220
Reproduced with kind permission from Print Business magazine. With thanks to Gareth Ward, Editor.
https://printbusiness.co.uk/
Posted by Justin Hobson 20.02.2020
While it is less necessary than in the past, paper remains the key substrate for all manner of printers and UK consumption is falling and has been falling for a number of years. This does not automatically equate to a similar decline in print jobs: shorter print runs and so on will have a greater impact on consumption of paper. Take newspapers for example. Newspaper volumes are dropping, but this is not matched by the disappearance of titles.
The Rough-Stuff Fellowship was established in a pub near the Welsh/English border in 1955, making it the oldest off-road cycling club in the world.
Recently, the club appointed an archivist, and the photos, hand-drawn maps and memories poured in – an unexpected treasure trove of incredible value and beauty.
The photos are full of the joy of riding your bike and evocative of a bygone style – of a time when you might set off on a club ride wearing a shirt and tie, a deerstalker or a bobble hat, and no ride was complete without a stop to brew up some tea and smoke a pipe.
It's Valentine's Day and what better way to celebrate than with a cocktail...
Last year, Herman Miller opened their new office in Rue Saint Augustine in Paris. Herman Miller needs no introduction to readers of this blog, as they are at the vanguard of ergonomic office furniture, equipment and home furniture. The company works with contemporary designers of the time which, in the past, have included Charles and Ray Eames and more recently Bill Stumpf and Don Chadwick with the now iconic Aeron chair.
In September 2014 the British Museum staged a major exhibition in the new Sainsbury Exhibitions Gallery on a golden age in China’s history. The exhibition explored the years 1400 – 1450, a pivotal 50 year period that transformed China during the rule of the Ming dynasty. The exhibition included rare loans of some of the finest objects ever made in China, shedding light on this important part of world history that is little known in Europe. China’s internal transformation and connections with the rest of the world led to a flourishing of creativity from what was, at the time, the only global superpower.
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