POS Supply Solutions Blog


Global Thermal Paper Coaters Announce Thermal Paper Price Increases

January 21, 2021

The world's leading suppliers of thermal paper have all announced price increases. The increases are being attributed to rising costs associated with production, energy, transportation, and distribution. South Korea’s Hansol Paper, Germany’s Koehler Paper Group, Spain’s Lecta, and America’s Domtar have all announced 8-12% price increases.

Listed below are the announced thermal paper price increases.

Another factor with these price increases are the pending Petition for the Imposition of Antidumping duties filed by Appvion Operations Inc. and Domtar Corporation on October 7th, 2020. The petitioners have asserted that thermal paper originating from Germany, Japan, Korea, and Spain are being imported into the United States at less than fair value.

Per the official petition, “The significant and increasing volume of dumped imports has severely damaged the U.S. thermal paper industry. The subject imports occupy a significant and increasing share of the U.S. market and supply that market at significantly lower prices than the domestic industry. As a result, U.S. producers have lost sales volume and market share and have been unable to increase prices on remaining sales to cover increased costs of production.”

The initial phase of the investigation has been completed. In November, the USITC determined that there is sufficient evidence for the petition to move into the next phase of investigation. Our understanding is that the USITC and the Department of Commerce will make a final ruling in the Spring 2021 timeframe. At that time, they will rule to agree or disagree with the petitioners.

If they agree with the petitioners, the US Department of Commerce will levy duties against the originating countries. The exact duties may vary by country of origin. Any duties assessed to the country of origin will be effective for both jumbo and converted products.

POS Supply Solutions will continue to work with our suppliers to minimize price increases as well as constantly working on improvement initiatives and other cost reduction efforts. We are grateful for your continued business and support, and will continue to do our very best to keep you informed of any other market changes. Please feel free to call or email us with any questions.