Price of paper: no longer an excuse?

A story about the collapse of the recycling market says this:

"On the West Coast, for example, mixed paper is selling for $20 to $25 a ton, down from $105 in October, according to Official Board Markets, a newsletter that tracks paper prices."

So, does that mean the alleged crisis in the price of newsprint (which was an excuse by management to shrink the size of newspapers in the 1990s) is over? Will it get cheaper to produce a newspaper when offices are emailing documents rather than faxing or mailing them?

Just a thought.

 

I could be wrong, but I believe this has nothing to do with the cost of newsprint.

 

Trust me, newsprint cost has only gone up. Double at our shop.

 

Well, some paper manufacturers are really finding ways to kill their business, you know?

Idiots. That goes for Weyerhauser, Georgia Pacific, and the whole lot.

 

We actually talked about this recently

-------------------------------------------------------------------

AbitibiBowater Inc. last week said it would cut newsprint production by 830,000 metric tons over the next several months as the company adjusts to falling demand.

The firm said it would close permanently a newsprint mill in Grand Falls-Windsor in central Newfoundland, Canada, representing 205,000 metric tons as well as idle, until further notice, its Alabama River newsprint mill in Perdue, Ala., representing 265,000 metric tons.

It also plans to shutter a paper converting facility in Covington, Tenn., that manufactures 70,000 metric tons of coated paper and idle two paper machines in Calhoun, Tenn., that manufacture 120,000 metric tons of newsprint and 110,000 metric tons of specialty grades.

Finally, AbitibiBowater said it would eliminate another 20,000 metric tons of newsprint production by shutting down other paper machines at various plants it operates.

Some 1,100 employees will lose their jobs as a result of the reduction in capacity, which will be completed early next year.

Newsprint demand is falling at double-digit rates as newspapers take steps to reduce their consumption. Prices topped $800 per metric ton for 27-pound newsprint as of Dec. 2, according to FOEX Indexes Ltd.

---------------------------------------------------

If you think about this, it's going in the same direction that gas did. They're trying to cut production, while we're cutting consumption. With the housing market in a freefall, they're not about to stop cutting timber. You can't. You have to harvest on a timeline.

That timber will go toward something. Might as well be newsprint.

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSBNG19314320081208

Another link on the topic. Looks like those bastards that have been sticking it to us are in no better shape than we are.