DWINDLING supplies of Australian paper are likely to drive up costs in a matter of months thanks to a stop on timber harvesting at key Victorian sites.
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That is the warning from paper suppliers including central Victoria's Bolton's Office National.
The Bendigo and Ballarat based office supplier has written to customers warning they will start to see the impacts of a Supreme Court decision suspending plantation harvesting at Australia's last white paper mill in Maryvale.
"We are now seeing the flow through effect of this decision, and this will impact greater at the end of February/early March, as we start to see the transition away from Australian produced copy paper to fully imported copy paper," Bolton's general manager Rod McCredden has said in an email to customers.
"Current stock levels of Australian Paper [sic] are very low, and we are working to secure what we can of the remaining stocks."
Australian paper supplies have been falling since the Supreme Court ordered government-owned timber business VicForests to scale back harvesting in parts of Victoria where two endangered possum species live, the Australian Associated Press reports.
That December decision triggered a crisis for VicForest's client Opal Australian Paper, which runs Maryvale's mill.
"Despite our best endeavours, Opal has been unable to source viable alternative wood supplies to replace the VicForests shortfall," the group said in an update posted to its website on Thursday.
"As a result, we are now seriously considering the potential future closure of white side operations at the Maryvale Mill and are consulting with our team members on this scenario."
Opal stressed that no decision has yet been made on the future of its workforce and that it is consulting with the state government and unions.
VicForests is appealing the Supreme Court's decision and a hearing is scheduled for late March, AAP reports.
Bolton's says there will be no impact on the quality of its supplies but the brands it stocks could shift.
"As this paper supply going forward is fully imported and subject to higher tariffs, there will be an impact on the price, however we are committed to ensuring that this impact is minimal to our customers," Mr McCredden said.
The company is currently watching prices change frequently as its own suppliers include added surcharges, price increases and freight charges.
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Tom O'Callaghan
I grew up in Bendigo and I want to tell your stories.
I grew up in Bendigo and I want to tell your stories.
