Nippon Paper Industries increases prices in beverage cartons by 10%-15% due to underlying upward trend in price of imported base paper, reflecting rising prices of pulp

Elyse Blye

TOKYO , January 30, 2014 (press release) – Nippon Paper Industries Co., Ltd (Head Office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, President: Yoshio Haga) will revise the price of beverage cartons for milk and cold beverages.

1. Items to be covered: Beverage cartons centering on NP-PAK

2. Increase in prices: 10-15%

3. Timing: For beverage cartons to be delivered on or after April 1, 2014

4. Reasons: Imported base paper is the main raw material for beverage cartons. There has been an underlying
upward trend in the price of imported base paper, reflecting rising prices of pulp, a key material, and other
factors. More recently, imported base paper prices have been rising sharply, given tight supplies worldwide,
driven by increasing demand from emerging countries, especially in Asia.
As prices of polyethylene resin, wrapping materials and fuels, etc. are also rising following the recent
depreciation of the yen, the profitability of beverage cartons has been severely constrained.
It is difficult to overcome the recent rise in prices of raw materials, particularly those of imported base
paper, by cost cutting alone, although we have been endeavoring to do so to date. Therefore, we have
concluded that we have no alternative but to pass the higher prices on to product prices and have
consequently decided to revise them.

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