Ilford price hike

[Peter B]

I know it's bad netiquette to cut and paste from another site, but there is a thread on APUG started by Martin Reed of Silverprint regarding Ilford price hikes on 1 September as follows:

FP4 HP5 sheet film + 20%
Multigrade RC (100 sheet boxes) + 15%
Multigrade FB (100 sheet boxes) + 10%
Chemicals + 10%

Apparently Delta 100 sheet film goes up by 20% as well, while Galerie has the same 10% hike as MGFB.

I'm not starting this as a rant against Ilford, however, but it is apparently the third price increase in a year and I would have thought it doesn't bode well for future "odd sizes" production prices.

[George Hart]

We really do want Ilford to keep afloat…

[PAUL O]

I suppose that as Ilford has the monopoly on black and white sheet film then they can charge as much as we are prepared to pay?

[Sal Santamaura]

I suppose that as Ilford has the monopoly on black and white sheet film then they can charge as much as we are prepared to pay?

I'm not sure what you mean by monopoly. If you're referring to the approximately annual "ULF" runs then yes, at this time, Ilford is the only game in town. However, if Adox is as successful as I hope it will be with its new MCC paper, and subsequently follows through with its plan to reintroduce APX films, Mirko has stated a willingness to offer sheets in non-standard sizes. Competition will be good for both Adox and Ilford. I hope we support all film and paper manufacturers.

[PAUL O]

Hi Sal, I meant that here in the UK Ilford are still the major player in sheet film manufacture. There are others out there; I really like Fomapan 100, but at the moment "Ilford" is still the main man - if others are offering alternatives then I agree that the competition will be healthy.