Fuji Cranks Film Prices

May 17, 2006 By Geoff Duncan

Japan's Fuji has announced its first across-the-board price hike for film in 25 years, citing rising costs of silver and crude oil.

Japan’s Fuji Photo Film Company has said it’s planning a 3 to 20 percent across-the-board price hike for all its film and photosensitive material offerings due to the rising costs of silver and crude oil. Fuji is the second-largest film producer after Kodak; Kodak announced last month it planned to increase consumer and professional film prices as much as 17 percent.

The last time Fuji has universally raised its film prices was in 1980 when Texan billionaire Hunt Brothers attempted to corner the silver market and sent prices over $50 an ounce. Silver prices recently hit $15 an ounce on world commodity markets.

However, rising oil prices are also hurting Fuji; oil is required to manufacture the plastics used in many of its products, as well as the cost of transporting manufactured film and cameras to market.

Since Konica-Minolta announced it was exiting the film business earlier in 2006, Fuji and Kodak are the only major film manufacturers remaining in a market which is estimated to be shrinking by as much as 20 percent a year.

Showing 5 comments

charity zone at 8:56pm 7th December 2010 silver will have a higher explosion this time than in the 80s
Jim at 3:59pm 19th May 2006 Gotta love those Hunt Brothers...
1980 revisited
Go silver!
Matt at 9:27am 18th May 2006 I know it can appear as an excuse to raise prices becuase of the cost of oil, but it's been 26 years since they raised their prices. Inflation hasn't stopped for 26 years, really nothing has. I'm surprised that they took 26 years to raise their costs, while still managing to remain in business and post a profit. It may appear that oil is the crutch, I think it probably came down to a price battle with Kodak if anything.
Daniel Miller at 8:00am 18th May 2006 Agreed, it looks like they are using this as an opportunity to make short term gains off a lame excuse.
Tim Stevens at 12:42am 18th May 2006 Seems to me they are just taking opportunity on the recent oil issues, and not blaming the fact that digital cameras are blowing traditional film away.