Facing Today’s Manufacturing Woes

The classic cost-control move when paper prices go up is to downgrade specifications. Cutting basis weight, trim size or paper grade are still useful moves, but not every square on the chess board is open.

Mills have gotten pesky about making basis weights they consider less profitable, and the spectrum of paper types is shrinking as mills consolidate. The nastiest news is the closure of Katahdin Paper’s supercalendared (SC) machine, announced for July. The loss of 180,000 annual tons of SC will mean that buyers trying to downgrade from grade 5 won’t find SCA easily. In turn, SCA shoppers may have to upgrade, making the price increase that much more likely to stick.