Newsprint could put papers back on a roll
The newsprint that will roll over the presses of the Orlando Sentinel sometime next month may not look any different to the paper's readers. But it will have endured a fairly torturous journey - from a port in China, across the Pacific, through the Panama Canal, and then by rail from the port of Miami.
The Sentinel could have saved a lot of hassle by buying the newsprint from its usual suppliers in Canada. But its owner, the Tribune Company, is betting that it can save money by importing the Chinese product. It will begin to test that theory in Orlando, and then in December or January at its largest paper, The LosAngeles Times.
"There's been a real consolidation of suppliers over the last few years in North America. So any time we can bring in a new supplier and expand our base, that's important," said Mark Thomas, Tribune's vice-president of news group operations.
Tribune is not the only US newspaper publisher looking to China for newsprint. Gannett, the biggest newspaper chain in the US, and the New York Times Company are also doing so. "We should see some good amounts of volume coming in from China starting at the beginning of the year. We are very pleased with what we trailed, and anticipate that we will be a buyer," Gracia Martore, Gannett's chief financial officer, told analysts earlier this month.
When analysts and executives talk about the troubles of the newspaper industry these days, the discussion invariably revolves around the internet and the challenges of retaining readers and advertisers in a digital age.
But what is often overlooked is newsprint. Along with personnel, it ranks as the largest cost for most newspapers, and over the past four years, its price has increased more than 50 per cent - from about $445 per metric tonne to more than $675.
Sadly for newspaper publishers, the increase is not because they are selling more papers. In fact, consumption has levelled off as circulation remains flat or falling at most papers. Instead, it is because of a consolidation among the major Canadian suppliers over the past decade.
Publishers have responded by using less paper. Many have moved stock tables online to cut the number of pages they print. More dramatically, they are also trimming the size of the pages themselves. Beginning next year, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal will join other US papers that have already shrunk the width of their papers.
While consolidated Canadian producers were shutting mills, China was ramping up production. It has opened state-of-the-art plants that will increase its annual output by 1.5m tones by the end of next year, according to Chris Cook, deputy editor of Pulp & Paper Week, far outstripping its domestic demand. "You've got a glut," Mr Cook said.
The Chinese have sold some of the excess in India and other Asian markets. And even factoring in the added cost of shipping, the Chinese paper is less expensive for many US publishers - particularly those with papers on the west coast. "It's mainly a cost rationale," the New York Times said.
Mr Thomas noted that the amount of newsprint that Tribune planned to import from China would represent only a fraction of its total consumption. Yet it was still important because it could give the company more leverage in negotiations with the dwindling number of North American suppliers.
Still, there are questions about quality - particularly after such a lengthy voyage. "We had a lot of concerns about how the paper would look when we opened the container," said John Cannizzo, senior manager of group operations at Tribune.
Mr Cannizzo and others also worry whether theChinese will benefit the newsprint market in the long term.
Many expect that they will leave the US in a few years when their domestic demand catches up.
In the meantime, however, the Chinese could undermine Canadian suppliers, who - in spite of the dramatic price increases - are struggling because of the weakening US dollar and a rise in energy costs.
But, given the immediate pressures bearing down on them, US newspapers seem desperate to cut costs wherever they can. "It may be short term," Mr Cook said of the Chinese newsprint. "But it's at a crucial time."
美国报纸要用中国纸了
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奥兰多前哨报》(Orlando Sentinel)将从下月的某个时间开始，在印刷中全面采用新的新闻用纸，在该报的读者看来，这可能没什么不同。但这种纸张将经历一个相当曲折的行程――从中国的某个港口出发，穿越太平洋，经过巴拿马运河，然后从迈阿密港口通过铁路运抵目的地。
如果《奥兰多前哨报》从传统的几家加拿大供货商那里购买新闻用纸，本可以省却很多麻烦。但其母公司――论坛公司(Tribune Company)寄望从中国进口纸张能够节约资金。该公司开始时将通过《奥兰多前哨报》来验证这一理论，然后于今年12月或明年1月，把它用在发行量最大的报纸《洛杉矶时报》(Los Angeles Times)上。
论坛公司负责新闻集团运营的副总裁马克?托马斯(Mark Thomas)表示：“过去数年，北美供应商进行了一次真正意义上的整合。因此无论在任何时候，我们都可以引入新的供应商，拓展我们的供应商基础，这一点很重要。”
论坛公司并不是唯一一家考虑从中国进口新闻用纸的美国报纸出版商。美国最大的报业连锁集团甘尼特(Gannet)，以及纽约时报公司(New York Times Company)亦有此打算。本月早些时候，甘尼特首席财务官格拉西亚?马尔托雷(Gracia Martore)向分析师表示：“从明年初开始，我们应该从中国进口相当数量的新闻用纸。我们对于试用的情况非常满意，并期望成为买家。”
在分析师和管理人士讨论报业近来所面临的困境时，总是围绕着互联网以及在数字时代如何留住读者和广告商的挑战。
但是，新闻用纸是一个经常被忽略的问题。对于多数报纸而言，新闻用纸与人力成本一样，是报纸最大的成本开销，而过去4年来，其价格涨幅已超过50%――从每吨445美元左右涨至675美元以上。
对于报纸出版商而言，不幸的是，纸张成本上升并非由于他们的报纸销量在不断上升。事实上，由于多数报纸的发行量持平或下降，新闻用纸的消耗量趋于平稳。相反，成本上升是因为在过去10年里，加拿大的主要供应商在进行整合。
出版商减少了用纸量，以此作为回应。许多出版商已经把股票行情表放到了网上，以减少印刷页数。更富戏剧性的是，它们还在缩小报纸本身的尺寸。目前，已经有多家美国报纸出版商缩减了报纸宽度。从明年开始，《纽约时报》(New York Times)和《华尔街日报》(Wall Street Journal)也将加入这一行列。
整合后的加拿大造纸商在关闭工厂的时候，中国却在增加产量。《纸业周刊》(Pulp & Paper Week)副编辑克里斯?库克(Chris Cook)表示，中国已新建了数家一流的工厂，到明年底，中国的年造纸量将提高150万吨。“中国市场已出现供应过剩，”库克表示。
中国造纸商将过剩产量销往印度和其它亚洲市场。对于许多美国出版商（尤其是那些西海岸的出版商）来说，即使将额外的运输成本考虑在内，中国的新闻用纸也比加拿大的便宜。“这主要是出于成本考虑，”《纽约时报》发言人凯瑟琳?马茜丝(Catherine Mathis)表示。
托马斯指出，论坛公司计划从中国进口的新闻纸数量，仅占其总消费量的一小部分。然而，这仍具有重要意义。在北美供应商数量不断减少的情况下，这将增加该公司的谈判筹码。
另外，质量方面的问题仍然存在――特别是经过了如此漫长的航程之后。“我们非常担心，不知道打开集装箱的时候纸会是什么样子，”论坛公司负责集团运营的高级经理约翰?坎尼佐(John Cannizzo)表示。
此外，坎尼佐和其他一些人也担心，从长期角度看，中国造纸商是否有益于新闻纸市场。许多人预计，过几年中国国内需求跟上来以后，这些厂商就会离开美国市场。
然而，与此同时，中国造纸商可能会给加拿大供应商带来不利影响。尽管纸价大幅上升，但由于美元不断走软及能源价格上涨，加拿大供应商仍在苦苦挣扎。
但是，由于美国报纸发行商面临着迫在眉睫的压力，它们似乎不顾一切地要在任何可能的环节上削减成本。库克在谈到使用中国新闻纸的时候表示，“这可能是短期的，但它发生在关键时刻。”
