Pan Asia Paper to increase prices for Asian markets

Pan Asia Paper Co Pte Ltd, the Singaporean subsidiary of Norwegian provider of newsprint and magazine paper Norske Skog, is increasing its prices by 5-7 percent from January next year to relieve the pressure of the margins caused by increased costs.
     “With the encouraging outlook from analysts for 2005 and the continued strong indicators for the balance of this year, we are increasing our prices by 5-7 percent for our Asian export markets, effective January 1, 2005,” said PanAsia Paper’s chief sales officer, Hannes Skisaker.
     “While we know and understand that this price increase will not be seen favorably by our customers, the margins of our industry remain under pressure because of the rising costs of raw materials. At the same time, energy costs have climbed and transportation costs have escalated,” he explained.
     According to an October 2004 Reel Time Report, published by Verle Sutton and Ross Hay-Roe, the three leading factors influencing newsprint pricing are demand, capacity and trade flows
     “Presently, all three determinants are developing very positively for the industry,” Hannes Skisaker said.
     As little as five years ago, North American newsprint demand surpassed Asia by close to three million tonnes. However, in 2004, Asia has become the leading region in the world in newsprint demand and the trend is expected to continue.
     Resource Information Systems, Inc. projects that Asian newsprint demand will grow 3.9 percent or by 440,000 tonnes, as it continues to be driven by increasing advertising expenditures resulting from improving economic conditions.
     Pan Asia Paper is a leading supplier of newsprint and publication paper, with production facilities in Thailand, South Korea, and China. The company is also the sole distributor in the Asian Pacific region for its parent company Norske Skog and its affiliates.

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