Paper Towel and Toilet Paper Shortage Hits Connecticut Stores
Having trouble finding paper towels and toilet paper on the supermarket shelves? Well you're not alone.
I'm sure you've heard about the shortage of certain consumer household paper and cleaning products around the country, well now that shortage has hit Connecticut as many local box stores and supermarkets have put a purchase limit on items like paper towels and toilet paper.
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As we reported last month, stores like Costco and BJ's had already started putting limits on the number of these products that consumers could purchase. Now stores like Walmart and Target have joined in and are limiting purchases as well.
So what's going on here? Why can't you get the paper products and cleaning supplies you need? Why the shortage?
According to bloomberg.com, demand for paper products is outpacing paper production as shortages related to the pandemic still continue in the industry. Other items affected by the paper shortage range from mail order catalogs to packaging materials.
One of the main reasons for the shortage, aside from the lack of dock workers to unload the cargo ships and truck drivers to get the products to the store shelves, is directly related to the country's factories and the cost of lumber during the pandemic which soared as high as $1,733.50 per 1000 board feet. If you combine that with the labor shortage, then the outcome is the increase in the prices of paper products, and as is the case now, the unavailability of those products as well.
Economists are also predicting that holiday items like toys and Christmas decorations will also be in short supply this year due to the fact that ports are jammed with cargo ships, as many as 60 deep, who are in a holding pattern waiting for workers to unload their ships. Stores like Home Depot and Walmart also bear some responsibility for the log jam because they were renting their own goods in an attempt to keep their shelves stocked.
