MirkoBoeddecker
Against the backdrop of Agfa’s bankruptcy, some people are currently taking a rather overly pessimistic view of things.
Agfa did not go bankrupt because there was no longer any demand at all for its products, but because of mismanagement in the areas of cost accounting and financial control.
Once a huge, fast-moving machine like Agfa’s starts to spin out of control, the whole thing comes off the rails.
They seriously believed they could sell colour film for 65 cents and still break even, in the millions.
Yet you could count on one hand the cost of the cassette, the box, the plastic container, the support material and the silver nitrate. And then there were 1,800 employees who wanted their wages at the end of the month too.
Somehow it just didn’t add up, and for weeks on end after six months, no one knew why 270 million had actually gone.
What on earth! Just gone! Strange, strange... the things that happen...
Let’s wait and see. At the moment, there’s a lot of backroom dealing going on, and recently one company has been particularly vocal in its support for Agfa. It’s conceivable that they could put the cart before the horse and, using the machinery that’s just sitting there anyway, start afresh on a small scale in the more lucrative niche markets with a small team.
If you’re prepared to pay 30% more than you do now, a film factory can survive.
Something like Ilford’s current level, plus ongoing inflation and an extra 5% annually to cover the rising costs of raw materials, which were still being calculated based on old mass-market prices.
At the current price levels for ADOX, Polymax, Multispeed and Foma, things will only carry on for a few more weeks or months.
Best regards,
Mirko
