Now, as Europe’s biggest producers start to feel a pinch in supplies, paper producers are having to compete further afield to secure their raw material. Pulp prices have already risen around 45% this year as the cost for the energy-intensive process of churning wood chips into cellulosic mash has soared. Consequently, about 800,000 to 1.2 million metric tons of pulp is expected to disappear from the market, according to industry estimates. Russia prohibited the export of birch wood in March in retaliation to sanctions imposed by the US and the European Union following Putin’s incursion into Ukraine. Subsequent logjams of container ships in ports further disrupted global flows of paper-making wood fibers.
The shortage of 2020, in which panicked consumers facing unprecedented lockdowns made a run for toilet paper and other household goods, was an early warning sign of the large-scale disruptions the economy was about to face. It’s the latest crisis to hit the supply of toilet paper, a frequent victim in the various supply chain snarls that have afflicted commodities markets since the start of the pandemic.
The cascading effects are rippling around the globe in the form of slimmer, more expensive rolls of toilet paper. (Bloomberg) - Add toilet paper to the list of products facing higher costs and fragile supply chains in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.Ī ban on Russian birch exports, whose wood consists of the short fibers that make sanitary products softer, has touched off a scramble for pulp, paper’s primary ingredient.
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