COMMERCIAL PRINTING Outlook -- Shadows Cast on 2006

"Anything that increases costs, even at the edges, is very significant. Printers don't have a lot of margin to give up," the NAPL economist says.

PIA's Davis agrees. Printers' direct energy costs are a relatively small part of their total outlays, he acknowledges, with delivery costs accounting for about 1 percent and utilities being about 2 percent of that total.