Sales and marketing director Horst Lamparter said that "fierce competition" between German merchants, a region in which prices are normally higher than in Papierfabrik Scheufelen’s other markets, drove market price down to "an uncomfortable level" last year, forcing the company to increase costs of its BVS coated woodfree sheets and BRO reels from June 1.
He explained that the recent price dive was "the worst problem Papierfabrik Scheufelen has seen in Germany" and increased competition for market share in the region has led the business to implement the 8% price increase.
Prices of Papierfabrik Scheufelen’s higher-end papers Heaven42 and Phoenixmotion were not affected by merchant competition due to smaller demand for the papers for specialist jobs.
Initially, the premium was attributed to inflation of raw material costs such as pulp, energy and transport. Lamparter said pulp prices increased at the beginning of the year, and the company faced additional charges of £20 per tonne when its pulp supplier raised costs again this month.
He said further pressure from transport companies needing to adjust charges due to triple oil price inflation from $800 (£500) to $2000 (£1250) per container in a number of overseas markets was another factor in the cost increase.
However, he commented that 65% of Papierfabrik Scheufelen’s markets were within a 500km radius of the German-based pulp mill - allowing it to compete on delivery time.
Papierfabrik has a strong market share in Austria and also ships to France, Italy, and Switzerland. The company plans to grow its market share in the UK were it benefits from a favourable exchange rate.
