Papermaking conglomerate YFY Inc (永豐餘控股) on Friday said it would raise wholesale prices for its household paper products by between 5 and 8 percent in the middle of this month to reflect rising material costs.
YFY, the nation’s largest household paper manufacturer, distributes tissues and toilet paper under three brands, including May Flower Tissue (五月花).
The company said it would also reduce its special offers for retailers.
“The actual selling prices of our paper products still need to be decided by local retailers,” YFY said in a statement.
The hikes would be its first price increase since 2011, the company said.
YFY attributed the adjustments to double-digit increases in manufacturing costs, including paper pulp, energy and transportation costs.
According to the company, the price of northern bleached softwood kraft pulp — the paper industry’s benchmark — has risen 15 percent since September last year. Coal prices have soared 50 percent from the fourth quarter of last year and natural gas rates have also climbed more than 10 percent over the period, it said.
In addition, the price of wastepaper is likely to rise further this year, as a continued recovery in the US economy spurs demand in the global market, YFY said.
Kimberly-Clark Taiwan, a major rival that makes the popular Sujay (舒潔) brand tissue paper, said it has no plans to raise prices for the time being.
However, Cheng Loong Corp (正隆) — which manufactures Andante (春風) brand tissue paper — is considering price adjustments, the Chinese-language Apple Daily reported on Saturday.
Two major supermarket chains, Carrefour Corp Taiwan and Pxmart (全聯福利中心), said they would consider reducing the frequency of promotional campaigns for household paper products.
Household paper sales amount to about NT$9.5 billion (US$306.1 million) a year, with total sales volume of 300,000 tonnes, government data showed.
Other than tissue paper makers, major consumer goods suppliers have also raised prices since the beginning of the month.
Food manufacturing conglomerate Uni-President Enterprises Corp (統一企業) — the nation’s largest fresh-milk seller — raised the retail price of its fresh milk by 4 to 6 percent in response to increasing costs.
From January through last month, the consumer price index increased 1.09 percent from the same period last year due to fuel and food price hikes, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics said earlier this month.
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