December 12, 2016

British newspaper publishers hit by rising newsprint costs because of Brexit vote

The UK’s mainly pro Brexit national newspapers are facing steep increases in newsprint costs, partly as a result of the EU referendum vote.

The cost of newsprint has jumped more than 8 per cent for UK print media companies since the EU referendum in June, from £330 per tonne to £360 per tonne, according to the Financial Times.

The hike is said to be a result of the plummeting value of the post-Brexit British pound, a rise in the price of recycled pulp (used in the production of newsprint) and the closure of European paper mills.

“Over half of newsprint paper consumed in the UK is imported, and after the devaluation of the pound, the market has naturally been less attractive to the importers,” Anu Ahola, a senior vice-president at print company UPM told the FT.

“No one is making money out of newsprint, so the manufacturers are simply taking capacity out of the market,” a newspaper executive added.

The Sun is the UK’s biggest selling newspaper with a total monthly average circulation of 1.7m copies, with the Daily Mail close behind at has 1.5m, according to the latest ABC figures.

Both titles were prominent supporters of Vote Leave ahead of the EU Referendum.

Sun publishers News Group Newspapers registered a £97k donation to the Leave Campaign after publishing a pull-out poster supporting Brexit, Electoral Commission figures revealed recently.

The rise in the cost of newsprint was given as the reason behind the i newspaper’s 10p cover price hike to 50p in September. Editor Olly Duff said the rising cost of newsprint was a “considerable annualised sum for publishers”.