How can you cope with rising paper costs?

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, August 1, 1995

Paper costs are driving some magazines to the brink. Don Kummerfeld, president of Magazine Publishers of America, says that, in 1995 dollars, real paper costs have reached a new high, surpassing the previous record set in 1988-89. The current crunch was caused by a surge in demand for coated paper in 1992-93, following the recession.

But mill capacity remained stagnant because of prolonged low prices and overcapacity in Europe. In 1994, overseas markets joined the U.S. economic recovery, increasing demand abroad; meanwhile, the dollar declined, making exports to the United States unattractive. And some publishers have been panic buying to build up inventories. A panel of four MPA production committee members, from Time Inc., Newsweek, Hearst and Times Mirror, discussed what publishers can do about the situation. Their collective opinion, summarized by Kummerfeld: 1) Reducing magazine size and paper weight are not realistic solutions, at least in the near term, because there is no available capacity in short cut-off presses or lighter-weight paper. 2) Reducing paper usage is possible in a variety of ways, such as setting more efficient newsstand allocations, reducing bad-pay and comp copies and reducing paper spoilage on pressruns by eliminating inefficient editions. 3) Don't sacrifice the perceived quality of your magazine, but use lower-grade or uncoated paper in some sections. 4) Because higher paper costs are here to stay, we will have to find ways to reflect these increases in our advertising rates, and subscription and cover prices.