The sharp rise in the costs of raw materials and energy, fueled by the war in Ukraine, is putting a strain on the resilience of paper mills and the entire Italian publishing chain. The costs of gas to produce a ton of paper are significantly higher than the cost of sale, as the Assocarta, the Italian Publishers Association (Aie), the National Association of Sector Publishing (Anes) and the Carta Federation have been denouncing for some time. Graphics.
More and more Italian paper mills – according to some estimates one in two – are forced to suspend production: the weight of the gas bill on turnover increased by 400% in 2021, compared to 2020, but since the beginning of 2022 the figure has also worsened.
According to Assocarta, last December the Italian paper mills paid for natural gas, with which they produce electricity for the operation of the plants, five times more, but these days, with the escalation of the conflict in Ukraine, the cost has on average increased tenfold. with peaks of fifteen times more.
The paper mill sector has about 150 factories, located throughout the country, which produced over 9.6 million tons in 2021 (+ 12.5% on 2020), generating a turnover of 8.18 billion euros, an increase of 28.6% on 2020.
Consequently, the surge in the cost of paper risks generating a smaller supply of books and magazines, delays in deliveries, possible price increases for the reading public, without excluding serious problems for school publishing. For this reason, AIE, ANES and the Graphic Paper Federation ask the Government for a tax credit on the purchase of graphic paper for editorial purposes.
The entire supply chain for the production of packaging is also being blocked with the paper mills, sanitary papers, medical papers, in addition to the circular economy and paper recycling. Assocarta is watching the Versailles European Council carefully and is in favor of the proposal to impose a temporary ceiling on the price of gas that will be assessed in these hours by the European Commission.
“Several paper mills have decided to slow down or temporarily stop production while waiting for this moment of exaggerated gas price to pass – explained the president of Assocarta, Lorenzo Poli, to the microphones of Radio too – today gas is free to float. 20-30% overnight, there is no limit, financial speculation can create any bubble and destroy it in the same day, it is impossible to work like this “.