Page 18 - BOSS Today Issue 26

Special Report - Paper

Reliable industry statistics are A4, merchants are reporting a end of the spectrum: “We are also Supply Trends Continue
unavailable at present, but it slight trend towards this format seeing an increase in the use of Another trend in recent years has
appears that UK demand for cut as folio and other legacy sizes higher quality A++ paper: people been on the supply side: there
office paper fell by 2-4% in 2014 decline further. The growing use have cottoned on to the fact that has been a continuing closure in
to reach c525-540,000 tonnes, of colour printing is also rapidly if they are making a presentation manufacturing capacity in order
down from the c700,000 tonnes doing away with demand for or putting a prospectus in front to maintain the supply/demand
of five or six years ago. However, tinted papers, as Champion of a customer, if they use a paper balance, and this looks likely to
while there has certainly been points out: “You now see less which is designed to give better continue for the foreseeable
no resurgence in demand, this yellow paper with a poster-type colour lift in the print, it can have future: before Christmas, M-Real
annual decline is agreed to be message on notice boards in more impact. If you give them a announced that they will exit
less than that seen in previous the office. In fact, you see fewer poor quality paper with a staple paper manufacture by 2017.
years, due in part to a better notice boards in offices anyway in the corner it’s not quite the Only the Thai company Double
economic picture and more as people increasingly use the same.” A (with the re-opening of the
desktop colour and digital intranet to communicate within This trend is, it appears, Alizay mill in France in 2014)
printing. their organisations.” a result of the potential and Grupo Portucel Soporcel in
However, as Richard unleashed by digital print: Portugal appear to be bucking
Champion, Marketing Director Polar Exploration companies are empowering this trend.
of Antalis, points out, there is However, as noted above, themselves by buying a Looking downstream, the
another significant factor that changes in demand for paper relatively cheap digital paper merchant channel (in
should be considered, which weight have been the key printer, setting up a print which the new Xerox/Antalis
is the number of sheets versus trend in recent years, as Fautley room and producing digital business is by far the largest UK
the weight: “The mills have explains: “75g is now accepted by print destined primarily for player, followed by Premier Paper
been promoting – and the most users, yet – a few years ago external communication. and PaperlinX) is still the main
consumer has been accepting – people would only accept 80g. Says Champion, “It’s a big route to market, with a 50-60%
– lower paper weights. I’ve been There is an increasing acceptance opportunity for the market: in share of cut paper distribution
involved in this market since even of 65g. I would say that 75g the past we’ve struggled to get in the UK and around 300-320K
about 1980: at that time there paper would now account for the sales buy-in from resellers tonnes now going through it to
was no way that 80g was going c50% of the commodity end of for these papers before, but office resellers, some consumer
to be the norm for copier, but the office paper market.” now we’re starting to see them businesses and printers. While,
now even 70g is being accepted However, as Champion being more interested in selling for many years, many of the
by some consumers and 75g has adds, the market is now being these higher value products larger OP distributors have
become widely accepted and polarised with an increasing and in having a sales force who bought direct from mills, Fautley
even specified.” demand for products at the top are trained to sell them.” claims that the merchants have
So, while the market tonnage
shrinkage may have been 2-4%
in 2014, Champion believes that
in sheet terms the decline in cut
paper demand in 2014 may well
have been only about 1-2%.
Whatever its actual extent, it’s
of course agreed that the prime
driver for the decline in paper
consumption is digitisation, but
as Les Fautley, Category Manager
– Uncoated and Business Papers
at PaperlinX, points out, this
is hardly headline news: “The
effect of the digital age and the
user demographic – particularly
younger office workers – has an
effect on the market, but the
negative effect of digitisation has
long been predicted, as has the
bottoming out of the decline
that we are now seeing.”
While the majority (over 90%)
of the UK cut paper market is

18 BOSS TODAY | February/March 2015

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