Business Management - Industry Trends

BY ERIK CAGLE It was around this time last year that paper buyers were being hit with an increase of $3 per hundred weight; approximately 6.5 percent on a typical 40/45 lb. No. 4 or No. 5 sheet. What a difference one year makes. As everyone else worries about whether their computers and household appliances will survive the Year 2000 (Y2K) bug scare or whether the new millennium party should start in 2000 or 2001, printers and their customers have other motivations to look toward the future with wonderment. No, call it glee. The paper market is soft to start the first quarter of

On the foreseeable horizon, paper prices should remain moderate—but don't let the stable situation make for stingy expenditure budgets for 1999. The word is caution, not complacency, for the market. BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO Welcome to September. For many, it's a time to establish budgets for purchasing expenditures for the following year. Little doubt, in most commercial printing operations, paper is the most paramount consumable purchase for which to anticipate, sparking many a meeting or hallway conference on what to expect from the paper mills and distributors regarding pricing and availability. How to prepare? Two words: Remain conservative. Bruce Janis, president of MSPGA: Management Science for the Publishing

BY CHERYL A. ADAMS Welcome to this special (fictional) edition of the game show "Jeopardy," where the contestants are printers, paper manufacturers, paper merchants and industry experts. The category is "Global Competition and World Markets." The question: "Is offshore paper usage affecting domestic demand?" But wait. This is a special bonus round. There's an economic crisis in Asia. The high hopes of European paper suppliers to sell their grades in Asian markets have backfired. Tons of paper, including coated free sheet, are headed for American shores. So contestants, get ready. Here's your chance to score big with a special bonus-round question: "What are

Greg and Scott share the same last name (Scinta). They share the same birthday (they're twin brothers). They share the same business (Smash Graphix in Louisville, KY). And they share the same opinion about wide-format printing (it's great). "It certainly makes our life easier," says President Greg. "Money-wise," Vice President Scott chimes in. The Scinta brothers aren't alone in their thinking. When it comes to wide-format printing, many shops are discovering that the market is wide open. When most people think of wide format, they think of signs. Granted, signage is a common, and profitable, application—but it's hardly the only one. With a little

BY CAROLYN R. BAK The second quarter of 1998 succeeded in delivering the type of paper pricing atmosphere that thrills commercial printers and publishers, but causes journalists covering the market to squirm. "It's been very quiet," reports Bruce Janis, president of MSPGA: Management Science for the Publishing and Graphic Arts. "This past quarter was really the first quarter in over a year that we haven't had some kind of increase." Brian Kullman, vice president, material procurement, R.R. Donnelley & Sons, attributes the lack of pricing activity this quarter to seasonal slowness. "Consumption is at a seasonal low point in the second quarter, then begins to rack up

Not long after revelers congregated in Times Square to watch the ball drop, signaling the start of 1998, paper prices reflected the first increase of the new year. "It was three dollars per hundred weight or roughly 6.5 percent on a typical 40/45 lb. number four or five sheet," relates Bruce Janis, president of MSPGA: Management Science for the Publishing and Graphic Arts, of the first-quarter jump. MSPGA Internal Paper AnalysisMarket Prices Charged by 10 Sample Printers &nbsp45 lb. No.540 lb. No.5 Printers(anon.)Nov.Mar.Nov.Mar. A$42.90$45.75$45.76$48.75 B$41.85$44.86$44.20$47.00 C$43.75$46.75$43.00$46.00 D$44.55$48.68$47.52$50.25 E$44.59$47.50$50.55$52.50 F$42.55$45.70$44.10$47.25 G$45.55$48.00$46.85$50.00 H$42.90$45.90$47.52$50.52 I$41.56$44.50$50.22$53.00 J$45.75$48.75$48.50$51.50 Mean$43.60$46.64$46.82$49.68 Source: MSPGA Management Science for thePublishing and Graphic Arts (New York)Questions or comments may be directed toMSPGA at (888) MSPGA14. HTTP://www.MSPGA.com The increase was

The winter months tend to signify the need for more—more clothing for facing frigid temperatures, more wood for the fire—and, this winter, if you happen to be a printer or publisher—a bit more money set aside for paper expenses. As predicted, the fourth quarter of '97 saw an average increase of about 3 percent—and another increase is set to go into effect the first of January. "This comes on top of a roughly 10-percent increase over the last nine months," notes Bruce Janis, president of MSPGA: Management Science for the Publishing and Graphic Arts (www. mspga. com). "We should see a