Procter & Gamble Co. said it will raise the prices of its Charmin, Bounty and Puffs paper products 4 to 7 percent as of Jan. 19, in part to offset an increase in manufacturing costs.
P&G said that it will raise the price of Charmin toilet paper and Bounty paper towels an average of 6 to 7 percent. The price of Puffs tissues will increase about 4 percent, said company spokesman Scott Stewart.
The price increase will help offset costs as Procter & Gamble boosts production to keep up with demand, especially for its Bounty paper towels, Stewart said. The move may lead other companies, such as Kimberly-Clark Corp., to raise prices.
“P&G has typically led tissue pricing. This is probably more of a plus for Kimberly-Clark than P&G. It’s considered pretty likely they would follow suit,” said analyst Jane Davenport of Montag & Caldwell Inc., which owned 7.24 million P&G shares as of September.
The last time P&G changed the price of its paper goods was in April 1996, when it lowered the price of Charmin by 8.6 percent, Puffs by 8.5 percent and Bounty by 4.8 percent.
