WHY YOUR MAGAZINE MAY COST MORE

Pulp prices have been rising considerably this year, as much as 30 per cent since the start of the year in some cases. Sooner or later this will mean a rise in the price of your newspaper or magazine - or perhaps a small version of your favourite title.
Pulp prices rose following the Chile earthquake and a dock strike in Finland. Those countries combined are responsible for more than 10 per cent of the raw materials that go into newspaper and magazines. And this all happened at a time when demand for paper from China has exploded - meaning greater competition for what remains.
I'm told by a contact in the printing sector that one high-profile Thai paper supply company has not been able to deliver paper to printers for four months, and while I think we're a little away from a crisis it's certainly a worrying situation for many publishers, who are right now being faced with up to 30 per cent increases in basic production costs or, worse still, having no paper on which to print their titles.