Amongst those confirmed as announcing price increases across their product ranges are; Premier Paper, PaperCo, Robert Horne and James McNaughton Paper.

M-real chief executive Jouko Jaakkola has also said that it is his companys intention to increase prices by a similar amount.

Although there been a slight seasonal pick-up in demand at the end of last year, low paper prices and the effect of the weak US dollar have continued to effect the suppliers.

News of the increases comes against a background of continued weak results by both manufacturers and merchants, currency fluctuations and a rise in bad debts, as evidenced over the past few months.

In addition raw material costs such as softwood and hardwood pulp, have continued to rise.

One of the letters sent to buyers states: Despite continued efforts to reduce costs, we are still faced with year-on-year rises in operational costs such as wages, insurance, energy, fuel and logistics services.

At the same time, ArjoWiggins Carbonless Paper has followed Mitsubishi HiTec Paper (UK), Zanders and August Koehler by announcing price increases of 8% for its carbonless sheet and reel products.

The increase will take effect from 1 March for reels, and for 1 April for sheets.

Story by Andy Scott