Staedtler (Pacific) Pty Ltd of Australia has confirmed to me that manufacture of woodcase pencils has ceased in Australia.
I have only a few Australian Staedtlers, all courtesy of Dave of Dave’s Mechanical Pencils, and found them to be well made pencils. I am sad to learn of this news.
The western world is shutting down its manufacturing capacity and this cannot be good. The ideas and art created with the pencil are the important things, not the pencil itself, but if nothing is made here anymore how are are engineers, designers and artists supposed to get the feedback to create better and more beautiful concepts, ideas and objects? If we can’t make our own pencils anymore how can we credibly say we can create, make or do anything?
While I do not believe I have any Australian pencils in my collection, it is always sad to learn of quality manufacturers vanishing under the current global economic climate and the general trend of moving much of the manufacturing capacity of the world exclusively to Asia.
Moving to Asia because it’s cheaper to do it there. Germany still makes a lot of pencils.
According to the Business Times (Malaysia) Staedtler will also shut its only Malaysian factory in Temerloh, Pahang, by April 2010. The plant had an annual production capacity of more than 60 million pencils. Pencil production will go to the plant in Indonesia, pen production to the plant in Thailand.
Thank you for the report, Matthias.
Staedtler UK Ltd made it,s last pencils on 26/09 08
That’s some precise knowledge, Alan. Were you involved with Staedtler in some way?
I did indeed work for Staedtler [U.K.] for many years.The last pencils made on that day a Friday
were coloured pencils Light Blue and finally Black.
what about Staedtler South Africa an ex Royal Sovereign factory in Johannesburg.
Alan, I’m sure many of us would love to know more. I’ve not heard of either Staedtler or Royal Sovereign producing pencils in South Africa.
Sorry I need to make a correction the Johannesburg factory was owned by Staedtler and Royal Sovereign
pencils were exported to it in the 1970’s.
This factory did make 430 stick pens and erasers and when production ended the machinery was sent to the u.k.
I am still buying Made in Australia Staedtler Tradition 2B in 5 packs at my local K Mart style retailer – “BIG W”. The cardboard packaging is starting to yellow slightly so they have obviously been sitting in a warehouse somewhere for quite some time.