From the start of the school year, at the supermarket checkout, the bill for the list of school supplies should be higher than usual.
Many supplies are expected to experience an increase in price due to the increase in the cost of the raw materials they are made of.
In particular, the manufacturers of school notebooks announce that they are planning shelf price increases of up to 25% for the start of the school year in September 2022.
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The prices of energy and raw materials have been soaring for a year, reinforced since February and the start of the war in Ukraine.
In May, the price of brent oil rose 51% year-on-year to $117 a barrel.
The price of PET plastic has also doubled this year.
Added to these increases are the price of packaging and transportation of goods.
All of this made some manufacturers aware of unprecedented tensions.
The price of paper is soaring
“
We have never experienced such a rise in prices between two back-to-school
“, indicates Guillaume Nusse, the president of Clairefontaine, which manufactures 26,000 paper notebooks each year.
The stationery industry is particularly affected by inflation, since the price of paper has risen sharply this year and it almost entirely composes its finished products.
Over the past year, the price of paper pulp has increased by up to 70%, indicate manufacturers in the sector.
To cope, Clairefontaine is forced to renegotiate its sales prices to distributors upwards.
Its president says he wants to sell his paper-based products up to 15% more expensive to distributors.
This is an unprecedented increase for the company, which had not increased its selling prices for years.
These increases should logically affect the prices on the shelves once the current stocks have run out.
This should happen as soon as the start of the school year begins, after the summer shopping has emptied the reserves of school supplies.
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Fixing the price on the shelves is the prerogative of the retail chains, which sell the product directly to the consumer.
However, if distributors are not yet commenting on future price increases, manufacturers have already informed consumers: the Oxford brand, a competitor of Clairefontaine, plans to increase the shelf price of its notebooks by 20 to 25%. , announced Martial Ardant, its leader, on May 16 on RTL.
Clairefontaine's president, Guillaume Nusse, also anticipates an increase, and indicates that so-called "basic" paper products will increase the most.
These are products which, being composed almost entirely of paper, will bear the brunt of the sharp rise in this raw material.
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Beyond stationery, the Bic group, which specializes in pens and other writing products, says it is also impacted by the rise in the price of raw materials, although less than the stationers.
The company anticipates “
very reasonable increases
” in its selling prices.
Another major hike in 2023
The start of the 2023 school year, even more than that of 2022, should experience a significant price increase.
Other major renegotiations with distributors should take place during the year to allow manufacturers of school supplies to regain their margins.
The impact of these renegotiations should be felt at the start of the 2023 school year. “
Unless the situation turns around, these will be quite colossal increases
”, warns Guillaume Nusse.
This information is confirmed by the manager of the Oxford brand.
To cope with rising prices, the back-to-school allowance (ARS) was increased on May 1, following inflation.