With the country slowly but surely recovering from the economic tussle it has faced over the past couple of years, things looked to be taking a turn for the better across several industries. It therefore came as a shock this week when printers were left reeling by the news that there could be a dramatic rise in paper prices.
The news was broken after UK merchants announced material increases of around 12 percent.
Although the prospective price hike has not been confirmed, print companies have been warned that a majority of merchants and suppliers will be making necessary increases from 6th April.
Paper merchants across the country have come out to defend themselves following the rumoured inflation, blaming a rise in the cost of the relevant raw materials and production needed to produce the paper demanded by printing companies.
Last month saw several manufacturers increase their prices in anticipation.
It is predicted that such a price hike will have a huge impact on both supply and demand within the printing industry, with the repercussions worse than previous inflation due to size of the increase.
Rumours of a predicted price hike have been made considerably worse due to the unforeseen, major earthquake in Chile and a Finnish port strike, both of which could cause the price of pulp to reach a record high.
The spiralling price of pulp, which in turn boosts paper prices, is a major setback for paper producers who have spent the past few years cutting output in order to restore depressed paper stocks and pulp prices.