According to Folio magazine, the paper industry looks to be moving away from a period of relatively low prices. That will affect what you pay for both office paper and for sending print jobs to commercial printers.

As the article points out, the cost of paper hit a peak in 2007 and has retreated ever since, with reductions in price of around 10-15% in 2009. But that will change in 2010, according to the article. The trends:

1) Mills will try to raise prices while continuing to limit production

The cause of the price decreases of the last few years: overproduction. Paper companies have learned their lesson, and there will be an attempt to limit of the supply of paper. After all, demand has gone down in recent years, so the reduction in supply has become critical.

2) Tax credits for paper industry ended December 31, 2009

Paper companies were the beneficiaries of a major energy tax credit for recycling waste from the pulping process back into energy to power that process. The tax break, worth millions to some companies, ends, so the general expectation is that prices will have to rise.

3) Demand will rise

As the economy gets better, more paper will be needed. Due to lack of advertising, publications have gotten smaller and smaller, but that trend may reverse. A quick rise in demand may mean a sudden jump in prices.

4) Paper industry is now sales driven; new products are in the pipeline

This has more to do with commercial printing than office use, though there have been a wider variety of  paper options even for regular copier paper. That’s especially true in the recycled paper area, which leads to …

5) Environmentally-friendly options will continue to grow

Recycled paper used to mean a big drop-off in quality, but no longer. As the demand for recycled paper goes up thanks to corporate Green initiatives, paper makers have responded with a bigger selection of papers suitable for office and publication uses.

Tags: Folio, paper industry, trends