As with many industries across the United States and world, the printing industry is not immune to the global supply issues which can be found all around many plants. From the corner boards for our skids to all the paper we buy, the shortages are real, expensive, and causing headaches for everyone involved.
Huston Patterson prints on a mix of stock but mainly on #70, #80 & #95 C1S as well as 10pt and 12pt top sheets which have all been impacted by the limited supply in the market. This all began when Covid hit the world in March 2020 which led to a drastic slowdown in printing for the following 3-4 months. Layoffs ensued with production capacities dramatically reduced. Then packaging exploded with demand skyrocketing for the following year. Labor shortages, a mill fire, and retail packaging demand at an all-time high have been the main drivers of the paper shortage we find ourselves in today.
The mills have put all converters and printers, including Huston Patterson, on allocation for roll and sheeted stock. HP is in a unique position with an in-house stock sheeter which allows us to buy in rolls and sheet the paper to size. Unfortunately, due to the allocation, we have limited 10/12pt roll stock in inventory so are forced to buy sheeted stock from our main converters who are in short supply as well which has caused dramatic price volatility. Prices are only good for as long as the stock which was quoted is still available when the PO comes in. Due to the allocation, roll widths have been limited causing many jobs to be sheeted with much more waste than in normal times further driving prices up. Given the short supply, lead times for all top sheets (10/12pt+) have dramatically increased from a few days to up to 4-6 weeks but for certain grain short, larger sized sheets, we are seeing up to 12 weeks to get on our floor.
We are in constant communication with our clients regarding the changing lead times on all litho stock and top sheets. When this began in the 2nd qtr, we told our clients to allow for an extra week to get orders delivered which came to 7-10 business days. As each day and week has gotten increasingly worse, we are now providing lead times of 5-7 weeks. We are asking clients to get PO’s in as soon as they can so stock can get ordered and into our schedule.
As far as #80/#95 litho stock in concerned, the supply has tightened but, not yet, to the degree we have seen in the top sheet market. While litho paper is very tight, we have done a tremendous job working with our suppliers to ensure our supply chain has not been dramatically affected. We do have rolls in inventory which allows us to sheet almost any size order and sources to obtain cut sheets in a timely manner. Lead times for the majority of our litho jobs has not changed and have been able to deliver within a time frame (5-7 business days).
The paper shortage is real and expected to get worse before it gets better. Longer lead times and higher prices are inevitable in the coming months. It is anticipated that supply will catch up in the 2nd quarter of 2022. In the meantime, Huston Patterson will continue to work with our suppliers and maintain a paper supply to meet all of our clients needs.
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