Million-dollar Label Questions

Higher material costs. Inflation in raw material costs is rearing its ugly head again. A recent Pulp & Paper Week report stated benchmark northern bleached softwood kraft pulp prices rose $30/metric ton January 1, lifting average levels about 5 percent to $640/metric ton in the United States. North American/Scandinavian paper-grade market pulp inventories fell 54,000 metric tons in December, a move likely to spur another round of price increase announcements.