At media group Roularta, the warehouses are “full” of paper. The company wants to hedge against rising prices.
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Roularta is not only the publisher of well-known titles such as Knack or Flair, but is also the largest printing company in the country. What’s more, the group is the largest buyer of paper in the entire Benelux, says financial chief executive Jeroen Mouton. Many newspapers from other media groups are printed there on a daily basis.
Roularta normally buys stock of paper for six months. In the first half of the year, however, there was a sharp drop in the price of paper compared to 2020. This was used to buy additional paper, good for three months of extra stock. “As a result, our warehouses are full of paper,” says Mouton.
In the meantime, prices for paper pulp, like other raw materials, are rising again. Roularta was therefore able to partially hedge against that price increase.
Due to the high demand for cardboard as a result of the booming online trade, there is already a paper shortage here and there. That will not cause any problems for Roularta. “We are the largest player on the market, and we pay in cash,” the financial chief executive insists.
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