You hold in your hands a valuable commodity -- and that's not pulp fiction.
Because of a worldwide surge in the demand for wood pulp, the price for paper products of almost all kinds -- including the newsprint on which this newspaper is printed -- is soaring.
Executives of companies that use or sell paper say they've never seen anything like it.
The price increases have been so steep, National Public Radio reported last weekend, that thieves in New York have taken to swiping bundles of used paper before the city's recycling trucks can pick them up.
The effects are being felt in a multitude of ways -- some visible to consumers, some hidden but all very real. Some costs are being swallowed by distributors, but some are being passed along to consumers.
And if you're looking for clues to why the Federal Reserve raised interest rates again this week, there's no better place to look than the paper industry.
Mark Roeder, a spokesman for Giant Food in Landover, said the wholesale price of paper plates and cups has gone up three times, a total of 30 percent, in the past four months.
"We have had to pass on a minimal increase to the customer -- much less than 30 percent," he said.
Paper towels, toilet paper and tissue are next, according to Mr. Roeder. "Our suppliers have already or are going to pass on a 5 to 7 percent increase," he said.
"The increase hasn't been major at this point, but it might be the first of many in the future."
At Dawn's Office Supply in Baltimore, manager Joan LeFaivre said the price of standard office paper has jumped 35 percent to 40 percent in the past year, and yellow legal pads have almost doubled, with no relief in sight.
"It puts us in a very precarious position because we do a lot of bid work," said Ms. LeFaivre. She said the 48-year-old company had to withdraw from a contract it held with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court here because it ended up paying more for supplies than it was receiving under the contract.
Some of the heaviest papers have had the heaviest increases.
Robert Fink, a partner in ABC Box Co. in Baltimore, said the price of scrap cardboard has tripled in the past three months.
"You couldn't give that stuff away a year ago," he said.
One of the most drastically affected companies in town is the Baltimore Sun Co.
"I don't think there's ever been a time before when newsprint prices have moved so rapidly or so much," said Sun Publisher Mary Junck.
According to Ms. Junck, the price of newsprint has risen 38 percent since early last year, and announced increases scheduled to take effect by May will bring that total to 47.8 percent.
Looked at another way, the newsprint in last Sunday's Sun -- 2 3/8 pounds without glossy inserts -- accounted for 59.4 cents of its $1.50 newsstand price. Last year it would have been 43 cents. By May, a paper the same size would cost 72.7 cents in newsprint, based on figures supplied by Bernard Bottomley, general manager of Times-Mirror Supply Co., a subsidiary of The Sun's parent Times-Mirror Co.
So far The Sun has not raised prices, and Mrs. Junck said the company has no plans to do so. "Anything's a possibility, but I would really try to avoid that," she said, adding that layoffs are not under consideration either.
Ms. Junck said the company raised advertising rates by a "modest" 5 percent to 6 percent Jan. 1, reflecting both the newsprint costs and circulation gains.
She said an increase in ad lineage had offset part, but far from all, of the newsprint price increase.
The cause is mostly the economic recovery and the worldwide surge in demand it has stimulated, paper buyers and industry experts say. Compounding matters has been a paper mill strike in British Columbia, which was settled Wednesday.
Mr. Bottomley said another important factor in driving up the cost has been the paper industry's reluctance or inability to add plant capacity. In part the industry has been hampered by environmental regulations, he said, but producers have also been wary about the future impact of electronic media on paper-based publishing.
Still, not everybody is complaining about the paper price surge. Steve Hudgins, chief of the Solid Waste Division in Howard County, is delighted because the recycled paper his trucks pick up is now a desirable commodity. Corrugated cardboard, one form of paper the county recycles, has increased from $20 a ton to $70 a ton since last year, he said.
But the most important change has come in mixed paper, including newspapers, Mr. Hudgins said. Four years ago, a company in Baltimore canceled a contract to take the paper for free, demanding $20 a ton to take it away, he said.
"Nowadays we're getting rid of the paper at no cost to take it," Mr. Hudgins said. "We aren't getting money for it, but that's around the corner, we hope."