Packaging / Advertising & Office

The world has been plagued by paper shortages in recent months.

Do a search on the Internet and you will see a lot of this kind of bizarre news: British newspapers are starting to get thinner and fewer pages; many cigarette factories in Germany are running out of paper and cigarette production has been adversely affected; the printing of ballots in the United States for years to come , may face a "paper shortage"; Indian newspapers have taken various measures to save paper, including changing the layout, stopping editorials, and canceling weekend specials; Western academic publishers frequently postpone the publication of new books; Europeans may need to save toilet paper when going to the toilet in the future ...

There are many reasons for the shortage of paper worldwide. As far as the European and American markets are concerned, the main reasons include the energy shortage caused by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and Western sanctions, as well as the cut-off of timber supply in Russia; the supply chain chaos related to the new crown epidemic, and the high barriers to entry in the paper industry , low profit margins, and worker strikes in factories in some related industries.

The paper supply chain is actually very global. However, the two-year-old COVID-19 pandemic and the sudden deterioration of the geopolitical situation this year have interrupted many links in the paper supply chain. As a result, many paper mills have reduced production capacity, resulting in a shortage of paper supply in the market. , causing its price to rise. In addition, the general increase in freight costs, coupled with blocked logistics and rigid production processes, all have a huge negative impact on the supply of paper.

Frustratingly, the situation is unlikely to improve much anytime soon.

Because Russia is an important source of European timber. Walter Sharka, CEO of Suzano SA, the world's largest pulp producer, said that due to the escalating conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the timber trade between Russia and Europe has been completely blocked, and Russian timber has also lost Global certification, which means that the production capacity of pulp producers in Europe, especially northern Europe, will be greatly limited.