California Freedom Gets More Expensive to Print

I'd like to inform Libertarian Party of California members that the cost of printing California Freedom will increase next year, due to an increase in the cost of newsprint.

This is Not Good, as printing and postage are already some of the larger expenses for the LPC.

As it is, I'm not pleased with the slow delivery of California Freedom. The October issue was mailed early last month from Georgia, and I have yet to receive my copy here in California.

Of course, that's the post office's fault.

I discuss the slow production and delivery problems of California Freedom, and possible solutions, in greater detail in the Nov/Dec issue. Which hopefully will be online soon.

In the meantime, below is an email that I (and, I assume, other LPC staff and officers) received from our printer, who in turn attaches an email he received from his newsprint supplier. I post it in the interest of transparency, and keeping LPC members fully informed of events within the LPC.

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Dear Greater Georgia Printers Customer,

Attached is a letter from our newsprint supplier concerning price increases for early next year. These increases come on the heels of a $25 / ton increase in September.

The 2 largest newsprint manufacturers, Abitibi and Bowater, have merged and it is feared they can now control the price and supply of newsprint. There are plans to shut down or convert some mills which will take thousands of ton capacity off the market.

We will not be able to absorb these increased costs so I am sending you this for your 2008 budget planning.

Over the next few weeks we will be looking at our pricing and see where we need to be to remain profitable.

Your business is appreciated and we will work to remain competitive in this era of low profit margins.

Please let me know if you have any comments or concerns.

Bobby G. Miller, Jr.
General Manager
Greater Georgia Printers, Inc.
Crawford, GA 30630

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Dear Valued Customer,

Today we are announcing a $60 /mt increase in our North American 48.8 gsm newsprint price. In an effort to be sensitive to our customers’ business, we will be implementing the increase in a staged manner - $20 January 1st, $20 February 1st and $20 March 1st.

Equivalent adjustments will be made for 45 gsm. Also effective January 1, 52.0 gsm will be priced the same as 48.8 gsm and will not be yield-adjusted.

We have undertaken a range of steps over the past few years to respond to the new market reality. The recent combination of Abitibi-Consolidated and Bowater is the most recent move to take costs out of our organization to meet the challenge that lies before us. Both predecessor companies had significantly reduced costs and AbitibiBowater has set an aggressive synergy target for the new company. Unfortunately, cutting costs alone will not return our Company to profitability.

In the last year, as pricing has fallen substantially, we have faced continued increases in fiber and energy input costs. At the same time, the U.S. dollar has continued to weaken compounding the negative impact on our financial results. We are absolutely committed to be a long term, high quality supplier of newsprint to our N.A. customers. As such, returning the revenue side of our business to an acceptable level is a critical component of our long term viability.

If you have any questions regarding this increase or any other matters, please feel free to contact myself or your sales representative. Your business is important to us and we appreciate the opportunity to serve you.

Sincerely,

Colin Keeler
Vice President
North American Newsprint Sales