Import costs push 'Press’ up 5c

Press, 24 June 1983, Page 1

Import costs push 'Press’ up 5c

“The Press” will cost more from Monday. The price of the newspaper will rise from 20c to 25c a do not like doing- this - and we expect that many readers will be annoyed,” said the newspaper’s general manager, Mr R. A. Barker, yesterday. “We will not blame them for resenting the rise. “Our company has to face a $750,000 bill that we could have done without. This was the additional cost of importing newsprint to repair the serious shortage created by the long strike at the Kawerau mill. We still do not expect to get paper from Kawerau until the middle of July.”

The increase will be monitored by the Trade and

Industry Department. The higher charge can be made while additional import costs are being recouped. The regional director of the -department, Mr Gordon Rudd, said yesterday, “We expect to see all the appropriate figures and accounts to ensure that the increase is justified under the Price Freeze Regulations and does not go beyond the amount needed to meet the extra import costs.” Mr Barker said, “Without imported stocks from Tasmania early this month, and without a supplementary supply from Canada, we would be out of business.

“Although we were considering an increase, similar to other papers, when the freeze was announced a year ago we have borne the

inevitable, added costs in the meantime, like many other businesses. This accords with the fact and spirit of the freeze, and we accept it. “The consequences of the newsprint strike have been too much for us. It is as simple as that, and we have to pass on the extra cost of importing paper, as is permitted by the regulations,” said Mr Barker.

In May, when the Kawerau strike caused the company’s normal newsprint stocks to dwindle below a safe level, “The Press” ordered 1000 tonnes of paper from Tasmania and 500 tonnes from Canada, sufficient to ensure continued production. Although the exact cost of the Canadian shipment is not yet known, the combined cost of the two shipments is about double the cost of the same amount of paper from Tasman’s Kawerau mill. The extra cost is expected to be about $750,000.

Before the overseas newsprint arrived, “The Press” took steps to stretch its paper stocks, resolving to avoid the possible closing of the newspaper. These steps also delayed the threat of staff lay-offs, serious restrictions on advertising, and a big reduction in news coverage. “The Press” is now depending on imported newsprint to sustain it until New Zealand stocks arrive.

The additional expense will be spread over several months of sales. The fairest way of meeting the expense was considered to be spreading the burden as widely and as thinly as possible.

Subscribers who have already paid in advance for their newspaper will not be asked to pay extra until their next payment period is due.

Air-freighted copies of “The Press” to the North Island will cost 30c. The present price is 25c.