China's Growing Economy To Blame For Essential Paper Products Price Increase
Follow KDKA-TV: Facebook | Twitter
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The cost of many paper products are going up.
"They're higher, and you get less," says Sarah Daft of Brookline.
No surprise.
Proctor & Gamble just announced a five percent hike in many paper products like Bounty paper towels, Charmin toilet tissue, and Puffs tissue, and a four percent hike in Pampers disposable diapers.
"Is that a significant price hike?" KDKA money editor Jon Delano asked Arnaud Franco, director and senior analyst at the Montreal-based Pulp and Paper Products Council.
"It actually is because those sorts of consumer products generally the pricing environment there is largely elastic. There's a lot of competition," said Franco.
Franco says the price of hardwood pulp used in paper towels and bathroom tissue has jumped nearly 60 percent in two years, while the softwood pulp used in diapers and feminine hygiene products is up over 20 percent.
Why the price hike?
It's not tariffs.
In one word -- it's China!
That country's growing economy and 1.4 billion people means China is buying more pulp and paper products, driving up prices -- even if Americans use more of these products per person.
"The U.S. consumes roughly 22 kilograms per person annually, where China consumes roughly 6 kilograms per person annually," says Franco.
That means Americans must price shop.
"I look at the ads that come in the mail and depending on who has the cheapest for the brand that I like, that's where I go," says Sharon Holly of Bridgeville.
Even though Proctor & Gamble is raising prices on products like this Bounty paper towels, now at $2.39, you can always find a store brand.
For example, here at Kuhn's it's Essentials, and this one sells for 99 cents.
With twin boys, Katherine Gilmartin of Dormont knows a lot about diapers and usually opted for low price.
"There is a quality difference. Pampers really are the best. But when you're changing as many as you're changing, how much does it really matter," she says with a laugh.