Lots of inexpensive HP/Staples/generic inkjet paper made in Germany?

[l_d_allan]

I happened to notice on a box of least inexpensive HP Everyday inkjet paper that it was apparently made in Germany. On every box I checked, the flap with the bar-code, there is:
Germany #####

That was the case for letter size and 4x6" paper. When I checked for "country of origin" for the least expensive Staples matte paper, it also appeared to be made in Germany.

Maybe I'm the only one surprised by that? If I would have had to speculate about the "country of origin", my guess would have been China or Mexico. Germany would have been near the bottom of such a guess list.

Am I making a correct or incorrect inference about where the paper is made?

BTW:
As a volunteer photographer who gives away 100's to 1000's of mostly letter size prints per year, I have been pleasantly surprised by the consistency and quality of what I think of as generic, cheap inkjet paper.

[Damir]

You are right, Matte Litho Realistic is made in Switzerland!

[Ernst Dinkla]

Production price is not in a 1:1 relation to local wages for products like that. Felix Schoeller for example is a big company in this sector, RC papers up to Barytas. Ecologically sound pulp sourced from Scandinavia, Polyethylene and inkjet coating ingredients from German, Swiss or French chemical companies. All going through an efficient production system and transported on one of the best infrastructures in the world.
Not just Mercs and BMWs they have their wealth build on.

http://www.felix-schoeller.com/index.php?id=36


--
Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst

http://www.pigment-print.com/spectralplots/spectrumviz_1.htm
December 2012, 500+ inkjet media white spectral plots.

[Ramonn]

You seem to be unfairly suggesting that if the paper is manufactured in Germany it obviously must be better and of a higher quality than that made in Mexico or China.
In the absence of proof, your unfounded bias remains.

[hugowolf]

You seem to be unfairly suggesting that if the paper is manufactured in Germany it obviously must be better and of a higher quality than that made in Mexico or China.
In the absence of proof, your unfounded bias remains.

The question was one of economics, not of quality. The paper is generic inkjet paper.

Anyhow, there is a history of the new world having difficulty producing high quality paper compared to Europe. Kit Funderburk has an interesting monograph on paper production at Kodak. Chaper 2.1 is of particular interest on this point
http://notesonphotographs.org/index.php?title=Funderburk,_Kit._A_Guide_to_the_Surface_Characteristics:_Kodak_Fiber_Based_Black_and_White_Papers._(Second_edition)

Brian A

[pluton]

When casually observing the countries of origin of inkjet papers from Epson, Kodak, HP, and various store labels, all of which clearly don't make the paper themselves, I've seen origins from the U.K., Germany, USA, or Japan.  I've never seen Mexico, China, or any other "low labor cost" country represented.