Book Production Costs Rise Despite Paper Price Stability

Printers and publishers are grappling with rising costs for plastics, ink, and freight, though the price of paper has remained stable. Financial analysts see no paper price surge, but printing industry representatives warn of pressure from other manufacturing and logistics expenses.

Plastics and Energy Lead Cost Increases

Pascal Bovéro, the general delegate of the French National Union of Printing Industries (UNIIC), highlights plastics as a primary concern. He cites a 40 to 50 percent increase in the cost of monomers and polymers used to make protective films and book transport packaging. Bovéro links this partly to Saudi Arabia's weight in their production. "These are incompressible costs for printers," he states. Gas prices also burden printers with thermal dryers, alongside rising maritime and road transport costs.

Regarding paper, Bovéro believes any increases can only be indirect. "Paper is unfortunately not produced in France, but its origin (notably Northern Europe) means it is not impacted as a raw material by this crisis, aside from transport cost," he clarifies.

Paper Prices Show a Misleading Calm

This assessment aligns with most experts who say maritime disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz have not caused a significant paper price hike. INSEE data supports this view. Expressed in euros, international pulp prices fell by 5.7 percent between March and July 2026 and remain far below the peak reached in September 2022 during high inflation.

Paper constitutes the largest single cost in making a book. Industry estimates provided to LivresHebdo break down the cost structure as follows:

The stability of paper costs does not guarantee overall price stability, however, as other components remain susceptible to increases.

Ink and Logistics Require Vigilance

Ink prices also demand attention. On March 19, the world's leading ink producer, American firm Sun Chemical, announced price increases and surcharges across all its divisions. It cited Middle East tensions affecting energy, raw materials, and logistics.

Freight exposure to the crisis depends on trade geography. For books manufactured in Asia, like interactive children's titles shipped to Europe, Red Sea and Suez route disruptions directly affect maritime journeys. Yet, as Pascal Bovéro notes, "the Strait of Hormuz is not the preferred route." Its impact is therefore mainly indirect, through energy and logistical costs. Attributing all freight increases solely to the Strait of Hormuz would be reductive.

This caution in attributing cost overruns is reflected in communications from the Louis Hachette Group. During its half-year results presentation on July 28, the group mentioned the conflict's consequences for its travel retail business and risks to energy and supplies. No specific cost overrun attributable to Hormuz was quantified for its publishing division, however. That division's EBITA margin rate improved from 7.7 to 7.8 percent over the period, partly due to cost control.

The question remains of who will absorb potential increases. Pascal Bovéro often identifies the printer as the first exposed actor, without specifying what portion they could pass on. The sharing of costs depends on contracts, revision clauses, and purchases already committed.

Hachette has already shown an ability to preserve high profitability during the inflationary surge from 2021 to 2023. This resilience illustrates its "pricing power," according to financial analysts. This means a capacity to raise prices for new releases without significantly penalizing sales, thereby passing on some cost overruns and protecting margins.

This capacity is not evenly distributed across the sector. For publishing houses whose readership is less accepting of price hikes, defending profitability may require other trade-offs involving paper quality, finishes, or print runs. At this stage, the upstream tensions do not allow for a conclusion that bookstore prices will rise. This offers readers a reprieve, at least a temporary one.