Some would say that the paper contracts at least will protect Kodak from price increases. Maybe, but I'm not saying price will be a problem for Kodak. That won't kill Kodak, as they'll probably raise the price of film by two dollars and increase margins. The real danger to Kodak, and all the silver users is availability. If they don't have a steady supply of silver, Kodak's production lines are halted, and many of her 80,000 employees will be sent home.
Availability is the key.
But the coming silver shortage is no ordinary shortage. Again, thanks to the Japanese, the silver shortage will be very special. The real problem is that, mathematically, a good number of users must be denied silver supplies, at least for some period of time, in the coming shortage. There can be no other way. There will be some time period where users are denied supplies - this is basic Economics 101.