In one year, the price of paper towels has jumped by 10% according to our partner NielsenIQ, and that of toilet paper is already at + 7%.Main reason: the rise in raw materials.“The cost of paper pulp has increased by 50% in one year,” explains Paul-Antoine Lacour, general delegate of the French Union of Cardboard, Paper and Cellulose Industries (Copacel).Like oil, paper pulp (made from wood fibers) is in fact quoted on a world market according to two indices: the prices of eucalyptus fiber and those of long fiber pulp (called NBSK by specialists).Like oil too, it is used to manufacture several types of products, such as books and magazines, toilet paper, tissue paper, but also cardboard packaging.However, the latter are growing very strongly with the development of online commerce, particularly in China.READ ALSO >>> Deliveries: fed up with unnecessarily large boxes!Most paper pulp circulates by sea, even more so since the start of the conflict in Ukraine, which transferred land freight between Asia and Europe to the waters.The current congestion of ports and the price of containers only amplifies the cost price.The paper industry is above all a hyper-consumer of gas and electricity, which increases the price.“Energy represents 30% of the product,” continues Paul-Antoine Lacour.The evolution of the price depends on that of the gas.Finally, manufacturers use a mixture of chemicals in which the wood bark chips are cooked for a few hours.However, the cost of these substances has also increased by 30% in one year.READ ALSO >>> Four tricks to sneak up food pricesBut the situation could be even worse in the event of a Russian gas embargo.“For lack of sufficient energy, the factories would then have to stop producing,” warns Paul-Antoine Lacour.Only a possible recession in North America and Europe, leading to a fall in demand, would make it possible to stop the rise in prices for toilet paper, tissues, paper towels and others.We asked the NielsenIQ institute, which collects data from 10,000 points of sale every month, to provide us with price changes on the shelves.We pulled out a basket of 31 basic necessities.Discover our Inflation Observatory with the details of the products in our basket and the evolution of its price over the months.For the first time, the price increase affects all categories of products, even those which were spared until then: detergents, soaps, toothpastes and cosmetics.Note that the increase is more controlled in discount (+ 2.9%), with prices almost contained at Lidl and Aldi;whereas, in traditional supermarkets, the waltz of labels is significant (+ 4%).Purchasing by drive allows you to better control your final bill, especially since it is the non-discount circuit that has moderated its increases the most (+ 2.8%).The most inflationary departments are not those that are neglected by customers, on the contrary.For example, despite a price increase of more than 20%, pasta saw its sales soar by 6%.But consumers have already made forced arbitrations: sales of first prices jumped by a total of 12% while those of organic fell by more than 4%.Trends that will be confirmed in the months to come.NielsenIQ predicts that the general increase in consumer products will reach 7% this summer.READ ALSO >>> Inflation: an additional cost of €90 each month for households