Glatfelter, York, Pa., USA, a producer of specialty papers and fiber-based engineered materials, this week announced price surcharges of 5% for all of its beverage filtration papers, effective immediately. The increase is due to high raw material costs, the company said. 

 

Martin Rapp, VP and GM for Glatfelter’s Composite Fibers Business Unit, said that "the cost for most raw materials, especially for long natural and specialty synthetic fibers used in the manufacturing of our filtration paper, has continued to rise gradually in the past 18 months. This has put immense pressure on margins at a time when additional capacity has been added to support long term growing demand."

 

 "We understand that this price increase is difficult for our customers, but the current economics are not sustainable. We have made extensive efforts in the past years to reduce our overall costs and increase efficiency in an attempt to mitigate the impact of these escalating costs on our customers. However, we have been unable to counterbalance the full impact of rising input costs in the past years.

 

"Realistically," Rapp continued, "I do not see any relief from input cost inflation in the near-term, but we are talking and working with our customers to find ways of reducing the impact of these changes within the global supply chain."

 

Glatfelter’s U.S. operations include facilities in Spring Grove, Pa., and Chillicothe and Fremont, Ohio. International operations include facilities in Canada, Germany, France, the U.K, and the Philippines, a representative office in China, and a sales and distribution office in Russia.