Due to a variety of pandemic-related circumstances over the past 2 years, U.S. paper mills are down 1.6 million pallets of copy paper in capacity. Many have switched to providing more profitable corrugated boxes to e-commerce, while all of them continue to struggle with raw materials access and skyrocketing costs along with transportation shortages.
All the while, the demand for paper is strong, creating an imbalance in the market — there is a shortage of paper to go around. Here is a video from The Today Show explaining the situation well.
So, what can you do about the shortage? Depend on Office Essentials. We have a direct relationship with the paper mills and will never be on “allocation.” This means we are guaranteed an ongoing supply of paper for our customers.
Here’s what you can do to remain ahead of the copy paper supply chain curve.
• Don’t let your stock run down
• If you have the storage space, keep an additional month’s supply based on your seasonal usage.
• Allow 3-5 extra business days. Longer for large quantities.
• Use the Schedule Order feature on our website to set up automatically recurring orders so you don’t forget to order. (Put your item(s) in your cart, scroll down in the view cart screen, and click schedule. From, there you can set your desired frequency, then hit send. You can view your saved orders from the Order History tab at the top of any screen.)
• Hot tip! Companies tend to purchase paper towards the end of the month. If you are one of those buyers, consider placing your orders earlier.
• Another price increase is expected in Q1 2022, so expect the supply chain to be even more constrained come January.
