Latvia Faced With a Shortage of Paper This Year
Print this Article | Send to Colleague
Latvia faces with a shortage of paper and a significant increase of prices for it this year, according to recent statements made by representatives of some leading local producers and analysts.
That has already led to the increase of costs for printing services in Latvia and the growth of book prices.
One of the reasons for this became the decision of some largest Scandinavian producers to reduce their output this year.
Visvaldis Troksha, Chairman of the Latvian Association of Printing Companies in an interview with the Latvian web-resource ReTV Ziņas said the decision to reduce their output was taken by the companies even earlier the initially planned date.
Troksha comments: “It was not a surprise, they announced it last year. It was the number one step, and another step was taken by Stora Enso, who planned to reduce the production of paper for newspapers and magazines from November this year, but speed the process, starting from July”
As a result, paper production in Europe fell sharply, which also affected Latvia. As the demand exceeded the supply, other manufacturers increased their prices. The rise in energy prices made paper even more expensive, in general by 20-30%. Another reason for the lack of paper is dependence on eastern markets.
The situation is also complicated by the ongoing turmoil in the global logistics sector, which contributes to a further growth of paper prices.
