While the country is experiencing some very real supply chain and inflation issues, many businesses in the printing industry are struggling to find paper. Fortunately, we have a great supplier and are fully stocked…for now!
That means we can finish any printing job you need in a timely matter. We don’t have to wait for paper to be delivered here at Digiprint! Here is a little background about why we are experiencing such a short supply of paper.
National Paper Shortage and Logistic Issues
The problem started with many businesses cutting their staff and minimizing production during the COVID lockdown. When people started going back to school, offices, and socializing again, the paper and printing market saw an increase in demand with a limited supply of product and resources. But that supply/demand inbalance was just the beginning of the problem.
Another issue is the current supply chain, with which many industries are struggling right now. During the pandemic, many truckers chose to retire and trucking schools weren’t operating to train new hires due to COVID. When the market rebounded, the available driver-to-load ratio was significantly uneven. Even when paper mills had plenty of stock, it was hard to get it to printers due to the lack of delivery.
While there are domestic paper mills sending paper stock around the country, many printers get paper from all over the world. That is another national story, that product coming from Asia is stuck in containers on ships, waiting at ports to be unloaded.
Plus, for printers to buy space in a container to transport paper has gotten astronomically more expensive. Not to mention the rise in cost for coated paper! Fastmarkets RISI’s economists forecast that CFS prices will have two more $30/ton increases in 2021, bringing the total of increases to one per quarter.
Basically, demand for paper slowed to a halt at the start of the pandemic, which stalled production. Once demand grew, supply production couldn’t catch up. Add logistic issues like trucking and container obstacles and you have a paper crisis.
Digiprint | Paper Shortage
Here at Digiprint, we feel confident in our current paper supply to get your project done. Unfortunately, we can’t tell the future, and depending on if the supply chain issues get ironed out, we might be telling a different story soon!
If you have a printed project in mind or something that you’ll need to get done, it’s a good idea to get it in production sooner rather than later in case we need to wait on a certain coated paper.
Reach out to get started. We can help you with everything from design to product suggestions.
If you want to read more about the paper situation, check out this compiled article from Fastmarkets RISI’s Paper Trader.
