Almost everything is becoming more expensive – but not print products: this is the conclusion of a survey by the Ifo Institute. A survey of 9,000 companies showed that, with the exception of the automotive industry, the clothing/textiles sector and the printing industry, all sectors are planning to raise their prices in the short term: “It’s like an economic domino: a supplier passes on rising costs to an intermediate producer, who in turn passes on the higher prices to his customers,” Ifo economist Klaus Wohlrabe told WirtschaftsWoche.
Sectors such as wholesale are adjusting prices to make up for their Corona losses. In addition, high costs for raw materials are a reason for the price increases, Wohlrabe said. The most prominent example at present: the price of wood. Pulp, the basis for (printing) paper, is also in high demand – not only during the toilet paper boom that has meanwhile subsided in the wake of Covid-19. Raw material producers are keeping prices up. Inflation therefore climbed in May to its highest level in ten years. Even though paper and ink prices are rising, the majority of printers are apparently not (yet) passing the increases on to consumers.
However, for this strategy to be maintained, prices must not rise any further. The pandemic situation leaves the printing industry little scope to pass on additional costs. The Bundesverband Druck und Medien e. V. (bvdm) warned of this development back in February. At that time, paper manufacturers had announced price increases of up to eight percent. “Anyone who anticipates future raw material price increases is cutting down the branch on which paper suppliers and print service providers are jointly seated,” said bvdm managing director Dr. Paul Albert Deimel. Paper producers could currently save costs in any case thanks to the lower EEG surcharge.
