Newsprint Producers Announce Price Hikes

Abitibi-Consolidated announced plans to raise its newsprint prices by $50 per metric ton on March 1. The company is banking on the steady decline in newspaper consumption is coming to an end.

Following the announcement, Bowater, as part of its quarterly and annual financial report, also announced plans to raise the price of its finished newsprint by $50 per metric ton by March 1. In announcing the price hike, Bowater said that improving fundamentals dictated the price hike.

While it is still too early to determine whether or not all or part of the price hike by the two large newsprint producers will stick, the fortunes of these two paper companies, the largest newsprint producers in North America, have been suffering over the past several years as a slowing economy sharply reduced demand for newsprint.

The two companies have embarked on sizable closings of machines and mills in a move to bring supply and demand back into balance.