Fuji terminates 35mm in Greenwood

[eclarke]

"-Stocking up on film might lead to it's death once the inventory levels reach a point where purchasing almost ceases.
-Telling everyone that film is dying will make them believe you.
-Using AND purchasing film is the only way to persuade the manufacturers that it make sense to keep making it."

Kodak, Ilford and Fuji have the combined annual capaity of a BILLION SQUARE YARDS of coating. All 10,497 members of APUG can put all the film they want in freezers and it will not have an impact on these companies, they are BIG business..EC

 

[removed account4]

Dear Jnanian,

What was the name of that company at the Old Quonset Point Navy Base in RI
?

Thanks Simon.

simon

it is a company called toray - a gigantic japanese firm -- they are pretty diverse - bathings suites to battery acid, building materials to plastic film

http://www.toray.com/globalnetwork/html/glo_a400.html

 

[dolande]

In other words film's future is as an image capture medium for hobbyists and fine art printers. >

I think that’s a right assessment of the situation. With time this population may vary in size but there will always be people wanting to jump into the darkroom. As somebody mentioned in this forum, downsizing is the order of the day. But remember that there’re smalls companies out there that may actually benefit from the dismiss of the big guys. I don’t have the experience to say that those products are as good as Kodak or Fuji though.

 

[Travis Nunn]

My take on this whole situation is that, like everything else, things change and you have to move on. Yeah, ACROS 100 is my favorite film, but if it does get discontinued, I won't be happy about it, but I'll find something else.

 

[Photo Engineer]

Ron,

So why is it that Fuji decided to build such a large compex in South Carolina?

Or why did BMW put a huge auto manufacturing plant near Greer, SC.?

The plain fact of the matter is that labor is cheaper in South Carolina than it is in many parts of Japan and Germany.

What else but cheaper labor could explain the huge Nissan plant north of Jackson, Mississippi, or the Mercedes plant in Alabama?

Sandy

Sandy;

I'll give you the full answer when we get together in June. It is very long and involved.

Basically, both Konica and Fuji built plants in the US to slit and chop master rolls of film and paper to avoid some of the import duties imposed on "Finished" products. These master rolls could be imported as "raw materials" under a different duty rate and also the Japanese had been caught dumping film, paper and TV sets on the US market.

At the time the plants were built, Japanese wages were far lower than US wages, and no company could make an inroad in China and the tech base and stability were not there yet in the rest of Asia.

Long long story which I heard up close and personal from Kodak, Konica and Fuji points of view.

PE

 

[david b]

So much for the statement from Fuji's CEO.

 

[DeanC]

Saying "we think film has a viable future and are committed to making a go of the market" isn't the same thing as saying "we plan on keeping every scrap of production capacity we have running despite the fact that the market is 50% what it was only a few years ago".

Film sales *are* declining and anyone who wants to compete in this (or any other market) has to make sure costs are inline with potential revenue. There's nothing inconsistent with closing the plant in SC and staying in the business.

 

[Photo Engineer]

Just FYI, it takes one month to ship a product from Japan to the east coast of the US coming in at SF or LA and going cross country.

So, a reason to manufacture here was to reduce shipping time, cost and difficulties. Film and paper shipments have to be refrigerated on board or they spoil, especially in summer. That is why the importation of master rolls as in my previous post, was a stop-gap measure until production facilities were ready here.

In fact, in the 80s, Agfa lost a huge shipment of material coming into NYC due to a strike which diverted the ship to NO, and in August the temp was horrendous and the wait was long. And the ship had conditioning problems due to the excess heat and long wait. The film essentially went PFFFFFT.

In any event, if the Fuji 35 mm production closes down here, quality may vary more, and prices may go up due to shipping.

I said that this was a complex issue. It is and Fuji is going to take some type of 'hit' for their change in production facilities. IDK how bad, or what will take place, but the dynamics of this are still settling out. EK has had to face the reverse shipping problem, from the US to Japan, and the Japanese have always been reluctant to let EK 'partner' with Japanese firms. Of course, once a formula goes to a Japanese firm, the 'Japan Incorporated' syndrome takes over and every "chici to haha" has probably read it within the month, and they are probably teaching it in a PhD course at Chiba U.

PE

 

[Simon R Galley]

Dear Jnanian,

Thanks for the info...

Simon.

 

[sanderx1]

So much for the statement from Fuji's CEO.

I don't think he said "and we will absolutely not scale down manufacturing, not even in locations it no longer makes sense". As long as they are not scaling down what they make or how well they make it, I'm happy.

 

[sanderx1]

In any event, if the Fuji 35 mm production closes down here, quality may vary more, and prices may go up due to shipping.
PE

Fuji 120/220 and sheet film are not known for any variation of quality despite being shipped from Japan, so why should 35mm?

 

[sanderx1]

and i'll just set all fuji threads to ignore from now on i guess, too much silliness

 

[Photo Engineer]

Fuji 120/220 and sheet film are not known for any variation of quality despite being shipped from Japan, so why should 35mm?

I pointed out that historically the month long ship cycle across the Pacific and the comparable ship cycle across the Atlantic has been of concern to all photo companies and was one of the driving forces (along with customs duties) to build auxiliary plants.

I didn't say it was going to happen. I used the word "may". Please be aware that this is conditional and not an absolute. I did say that things were in a flux and that Fuji would take some sort of 'hit'. What that will be remains to be determined.

PE

 

[Fotohuis]

We have a visit from Fuji next Thursday and we will hear what are the future plans from Fuji in Europe. I do not think Fuji will discontinue film for the future.

They have to adapt their capacity for the market.

best regards,

Robert

 

[gr82bart]

This thread's for the doom and gloom forum.

Regards, Art. (So, where's the chorus of 'boycott Fuji' posts? At this rate, we'll be boycotting every film manufacturer!)

 

[waynecrider]

This thread's for the doom and gloom forum.

Regards, Art. (So, where's the chorus of 'boycott Fuji' posts? At this rate, we'll be boycotting every film manufacturer!)

I don't read it as a doom and gloom. Just news and discussion. Kind of interesting.

 

[Brac]

People on here are worrying about getting Fuji film from Japan, but in the UK increasing amounts of Kodak colour negative film is coming from their plant in China. And with Fuji although the "amateur" films in recent years came from Holland, the professional stuff always came from Japan without problems.

 

[Changeling1]

Fuji needs to be spanked and sent to bed without supper.

 

[Photo Engineer]

Just FYI, todays Rochester newspaper reports that EK has made further gains in digital sales and some private sources tell me of more downturns in conventional sales of amateur (consumer) products and more layoffs at EK in response.

PE

 

[Steve Anchell]

Kodak's Statement

I would very much appreciate it if everyone who is following this thread would read my statement under Product Availability>Kodak's Statement.