Barry Pearson, managing director at Doncaster-based commercial printer Expert Print, said: "I’ve heard prices are going up again and it’s very disheartening.

"A large amount of our work is flat sheet and therefore the majority of the cost is paper, a further increase will just mean even less margin."

He said that in an attempt to reduce paper costs he enquired into buying paper by the container load from China, only to be advised that a 39.1% anti-dumping tax had been imposed by the EU. 

"This basically means there are very few options available to combat any rises. I guess we just have to wait until the mills in Europe decide to hold on the price."

Sappi Fine Paper Europe will increase the price of coated fine papers by a minimum of 8% as of 1 March for non-contractual business and 1 April for contractual business.

It will also increase the price of its uncoated fine papers by 5-8% in March for the entire business.

A spokeswoman for the company said: "Sappi needs to make these prices increases in order to cope with the continuously rising input costs.

"The new price hikes, particularly in energy, wood and starch, have confronted us with a situation of declining profit margins."

M-real will increase the price of its uncoated fine paper by between 6-8% as of 14 March.

Simon Guffogg, marketing director at M-real, said the business was facing "significant increases in chemicals, energy and wood prices", which he said were unsustainable.

He added: "We have to do something about it. We have little choice but to try to recover these increases. It’s all about the margins. It’s rather grim."

Lauri Peltola, head of corporate communications at Stora Enso, said negotiations at the company were still ongoing.
Rival paper manufacturer UPM declined to comment.