Taiwan is experiencing a paper shortage, and the situation on the mainland is also grim. "Better to speculate in paper than in property or stocks" is no longer a joke; even selling waste paper can earn more money. Paper products are about to see price increases, already affecting household paper. So, are you ready to stock up on toilet paper?
Paper companies issue price hike notices Recently, media learned from the chain supermarket RT-Mart that several major household toilet paper manufacturers have confirmed they will adjust prices for existing brand toilet paper, with increases ranging from 10% to 30%, starting as early as mid-March and no later than April.
Following that, multiple domestic paper companies, including Asia Symbol and Chenming, have successively issued price hike notices, signaling a new wave of price increase announcements in the market!
- Asia Symbol: From March 1, all brand copy paper and OEM brands will increase by 200 RMB/ton.
- Chenming: From March 1, cultural paper products will increase by 200 RMB/ton.
- APP: From March 1, copy paper products will increase by 200 RMB/ton.
- China Metallurgical Meiliyun: From February 26, cultural paper will increase by 100 RMB/ton.
- Bowen Paper: From February 23, all-wood pulp offset paper and all-wood pulp electrostatic copy base paper will increase by 100 RMB/ton.
- Quanlin Paper: From March 1, all brand cultural paper, specialty paper, and food packaging paper will increase by 200 RMB/ton.
- Huajin Group: From March 1, cultural paper will increase by 200 RMB/ton.
- Jianghe Paper: From February 26, carbonless base paper will increase by 300 RMB/ton.
This means that not only toilet paper prices will rise, but cultural paper and even cardboard boxes may also see price increases. In fact, over the past year, the raw material for paper products—pulp—has been surging for nearly a year (click to view: "Crazy Paper Prices"). According to industry analysis, current paper prices may only reflect about half of the raw material price increase. Based on current price trends, by May or June this year, paper product prices may continue to rise.
Why are paper prices rising so sharply? Whenever something is about to increase in price, changes in market supply and demand are the first thing to consider, and this time is no exception. One of the main reasons for the sustained rise in pulp prices is the shortage of raw materials.
According to China Business Network (CBN), the concentration of international wood pulp supply has been increasing in recent years. Domestic hardwood pulp mainly comes from Brazil and Indonesia. As wood scarcity intensifies, limited raw material supply further enhances companies' bargaining power.
In addition, with stricter environmental protection policies for the paper industry, raw material supply has been affected in various ways, whether in production or waste paper imports. Especially after the Spring Festival, major paper companies enter their regular maintenance and shutdown season, which may further reduce production capacity. This will exacerbate the supply-demand tension in the market.
Taiwan residents panic-buy toilet paper These days, the first question many Taiwanese people ask when meeting is, "Did you buy toilet paper?" And major retail outlets and supermarkets in Taiwan are witnessing scenes of toilet paper panic-buying.
△ On February 26, in Chiayi, Taiwan, people rushed to retail outlets to stock up on toilet paper, loading carts to take home.
Supermarket toilet paper shelves were cleared out, with sales increasing tenfold compared to usual. Latecomers had to return empty-handed.
As soon as staff began restocking, before packaging was even removed, people quickly loaded their shopping carts, and shelves were emptied in an instant.
Some supermarkets increased restocking efforts to meet demand, but it still couldn't ease the frenzy. Some stores even imposed purchase limits, allowing only two packs per card.
△ On February 27, in Taipei, supermarket toilet paper shelves were cleared out.
A shopping mall manager said that in the past few days, they sold three months' worth of inventory, almost selling everything suppliers delivered. In addition to offline purchases, online tissue sales were also intense. Taiwan's e-commerce platforms PChome 24h and Life Market statistics showed that toilet paper sales exceeded 50,000 boxes (equivalent to 5 million packs) for three consecutive days, with 30,000 boxes sold last Saturday, meaning one box sold every three seconds.
Quick-thinking merchants also introduced claw machines filled with toilet paper as a sales tactic—each roll was grabbed as soon as it appeared. "Many people were frantically grabbing toilet paper like zombies, and I panicked and grabbed two packs too!"
Taiwan claw machines now dispense toilet paper.
Some online platforms even launched promotions offering free tissue with iPhone purchases, limited to 150 sets, sparking numerous comments from netizens.
The event was even reported by the BBC.
Paper product price hikes may spread globally! Facing rising demand, packaging industry researchers have warned that due to global paper shortages, prices face a new round of increases. In response, NOA-PRISM surveyed global trends and predicted that more countries and regions worldwide will implement paper price increases.
"UK buyers have seen three price increases for corrugated board in the past 12 months, and it looks like there could be a fourth in the first quarter of 2018," said Neil Osment, Managing Director of NOA-PRISM. Additionally, in 2017, US paper demand began to outpace supply. Over the past three years, demand for corrugated packaging has grown 2% year-on-year, while supply of kraftliner has barely grown, with few plans for additional kraft paper projects.
In fact, globally, demand for corrugated board has seen significant growth, averaging 3.3% annually, increasing from 200 billion square meters (bsm) in 2011 to nearly 236 billion square meters in 2016. PRISM's packaging industry analysis forecasts an average growth rate of 3% over the next five years, with the global market reaching 273 billion square meters by 2021. The growth of 37 billion square meters is almost equivalent to the entire current US corrugated market size.
Rising paper product prices will also affect all aspects of our consumer life.
From the industry chain perspective, the upstream raw materials for the paper industry are mainly wood pulp and waste paper pulp. Downstream, paper products are divided into four categories based on use: packaging paper, cultural paper, household paper, and specialty paper. Specifically, packaging paper mainly corresponds to the home appliance industry, food and beverage, logistics and transportation; cultural paper mainly corresponds to printing companies, magazines, and publishers; household paper has a significant impact on catering and daily life.
Other products also see price increases Not only toilet paper, but beer and milk have also joined the price hike camp.
Beer In January this year, the beer industry saw its first collective price increase in nearly a decade. Tsingtao Brewery first raised prices on some products in certain regions, with an average increase of no more than 5%.
Baijiu (Chinese liquor) At the end of December 2017, Kweichow Moutai announced that from January 1, 2018, it would appropriately raise the prices of Moutai products, with an average increase of about 18%.
Beverages In January, Master Kong Beverages issued a price hike notice, with new prices expected to take effect from January 10, 2018. The tea/juice series increased by 2-3 RMB.
Milk According to research data from institutions, from the end of 2017 to mid-January 2018, some products from leading liquid milk companies such as Bright Dairy, Mengniu, and Yili have already begun to raise prices.
Source: Phoenix Finance -END-