Coping Strategies — Rising Cost Of Commodities

Also consider that the cost to manufacture ink, as well as the polyester base used to make photographic films and printing plates, has risen with the price of petroleum.

Metals
Metal prices have skyrocketed as well, headlined by the dramatic increase in the price of gold. More relevant to our industry are aluminum and silver. Silver, a critical component of photographic products, is up 158 percent since January of 2000, almost nine times the CPI rate (as shown above). Although aluminum costs have not escalated as rapidly, they are still up 71 percent since December 2003.