The increase will take effect from 1 June and is equivalent to a minimum increase of €80 (£70) per tonne for BVS, the company's coated woodfree sheets brand.

Based in Lennington, Germany, the company manufactures up to 300,000 tonnes of coated, woodfree premium paper from FSC and PEFC certified pulp each year.

Coated woodfree paper reels, along with the Exclusiveline and Trendline brands will also be increased by at least 10%.

The company said that despite "extensive cost reduction measures," it has not been possible to compensate for the dramatic costs situation, particularly for pulp.

Chief executive Michael Spallart said the price increase was unavoidable, and that it is probable there will be another increase after the summer.

He said: "The industry has been confronted with monthly cost increases of its prime raw material pulp for nine months now.

"It will be essential to recover from those historically low margins and obtain the true value of paper from the market."

He added that the events in Chile had certainly played a role in the need for the increases.
"This unfortunate event has further reduced availability of market pulp.

However, pulp was already in short supply due to the improved demand for graphic papers worldwide.

"This is in line with an increase of GDP and advertising spend in Europe and the booming Chinese economy."

In February, the company announced it was to raise the price of delivery for its coated woodfree paper reels and sheets by 10-12% as of 1 March.

Scheufelen was founded in 1855 and was taken over by Powerflute in January 2009. The company sells products worldwide and its sales last year were €230m.