Fuji closing Facilities

[drg]

FujiFilm announced publicly the closing of two film-processing plants.
One in Indiana and the other in Maryland. There have been some other whispers about this suddenly over the past three months. The holiday season saw a tremendous drop in film usage and purchase.

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/...803010442/1003
(Sorry I couldn't get the AP link to work)

I've added a few more comments in my blog regarding this scary turn of events.

Fever, Film & the Future


These are retail/consumer facilities, but loss of volume is loss of volume.

[Xia_Ke]

Ahhhh! Nooooooo!!!! How can this be? The prototype RF folder at PMA was such a good sign. Fuji, if you're out there, DON'T GET RID OF NEOPAN OR ACROS!!! :cryin:

[Greg McCary]

Is this just the processing plants closing, film developing, or the manufactoring plants that make it?

[photophorous]

Always sad news, but I read on another forum that it's just film processing and printing plants, not film manufacturing plants. I hope that's true.

Paul

[drg]

This is 'just' processing and it is retail/consumer processing mostly.

The real concern is the suddeness in the public announcement and when you realize the capacity that these plants handled until recently. I've been hearing about reductions for 6+ months.
People not processing film means people not buying film.

The film industry has long sold the vast majority of its products to consumers in North America. There are areas of the world where the majority of the business in revenue terms was industrial/medical but that long ago changed in N.A.

At the peak of KODAK selling film in the US, the year after year daily sales leader was one of the Disney properties -Land or -World. Not for some time has it been a significant revenue provider.

This is also interesting as it makes one wonder about the printing end of this as these plants also have been involved (maybe not these two, but Fuji plants) in printing digital photos.

The times, they are a changin' !

[Greg McCary]

I think I shall start stocking some back. Just in case. Thanks for the heads up DRG.