How does the paper shortage affect the publishing industry?
We have seen these days in the press that the price and scarcity of paper put the publishing sector on alert. The publishing houses are mainly encountering two major problems: the increase in paper prices and the extension of delivery times. The world of the book suffers from scarcity, in this case of paper and especially the so-called grey cardboard – the one used for hardcover books. There is a great deal of demand, and the price of electricity must also be increased.
Paper is a raw material closely associated with the pandemic due to the boom in international trade, with all types of products transported in cardboard boxes.
In addition to cardboard boxes, books are also made from paper, an industry favored in the pandemic by increasing reading habits, but which now begins to worry about the lack of paper available. The growing demand for packaging affects small publishers, but it is also responsible for increasing the cost of energy throughout the production chain.
How big is the problem?
The problem is more acute for small publishers: they cannot fulfil quick orders that have been an important source of income in recent years. Both the printing and publishing industries acknowledge that the problem is temporary and expect the situation to readjust in four or five months. The most vulnerable publishers are concerned because rising energy prices compound the increase in paper prices.
The 2020 data show how the manufacture of corrugated cardboard grew by 5.1% (the toilet paper by 3.2%) while the production of papers produced by the graphic industry responsible for transforming paper into books, declined: competition has increased, and that also affects the price of paper
“It is a purely conjunctural issue related to a strong demand that has come at once and that is not only of books, but of other types of packaging impressions,” says Patrici Tixis, president of the FGEE (Federation of Guilds of Publishers of Spain).
Editorials, like Planeta, are not affected or worried: despite the fact that the graphic industry confirms that it cannot attend to new requests beyond the commitments set in advance.
Will this affect book supply and prices?
No, it simply means delays to new releases or a reduction in the number of copies. Consumers will not experience serious disruption to availability, and certainly no shortages. There may be a price increase in the medium term, but no economic sector is escaping the frantic escalation in electricity prices. “Our energy costs have doubled in a year, and that affects the selling price,” say printing industry sources.
An irony: Amazon, increasingly powerful in the sale of books, is also the major driving force behind the consumption of cardboard boxes for electronic commerce. In other words, the more books it sells, the cheaper it buys from publishers, which at the same time produce them at higher cost because the consumption of cardboard boxes Amazon’s packaging increased prices.
The book, for the time being, is immune from the pandemic. The increase in leisure time at home has resulted in longer reading time and more sales.
