Paper prices rise by 15%

KARACHI: Due to higher cost of production, rupee depression and duty on commercial imports; prices of paper and paperboard have increased by around 15 percent in the country.

“Prices for end-users can be controlled if the government reduces customs duty to a uniform level to 10 percent from 20-25 percent on two categories, (uncoated and coated paper and board), representatives of Pakistan Pulp Paper and Board Mills Association (PPPBMA) and Pakistan Paper Merchants Association (PPMA) said here on Monday.

PPMA Secretary Rauf Ansari while talking to Daily Times said the increase in prices of paper and paperboard has affected the local price of notebooks, copies, textbooks and office stationery.

Commercial importers were paying a minimum of 25 percent more on imports due to the rupee-dollar parity level. Now, the cost has been increased to 38 percent, he added.

“Although international prices have registered a slight decline but the country’s higher rate of import has nullified the advantage to importers,” Ansari added.

He said the country imports around 75,000 tonnes of paper products of all kinds annually while under the customs tariff, paper is treated as finished goods under section (x) chapter 48 of Pakistan Customs Tariff, at high customs duty slab of 20-25 percent, while raw material is at 10 percent or zero rate duty slab.

He said the increased sales tax has affected the import cost at around Rs 8-10 per kg on all kinds of paper.

He said, “We import paper and duplex box paper from Indonesia, China, Finland, UK, Belgium and other countries to meet our domestic requirements while local mills cater to around 65 percent of our requirements.”

He said around 60 percent of imported material is used for making office stationery, and high-grade paper products and imported cardboards caters to around 35 percent of our needs.

He said around 25 percent imported material is used for making notebooks and high-quality paperbacks books, while more than 50 percent local papers is used in making secondary and higher secondary school books.

PPPBMA Secretary Hafiz Siddiqul Kabeer said, “We are importing wood pulp at around $900 per tonne from Canada, USA, Norway, Indonesia and Sweden, besides paying one percent excise duty including regular taxes and sales tax.”

He said around 100 units of the PPPBMA were braving the high cost of business, energy crisis and production loss, but still we were selling our products with a minimised increase of around eight percent.

He said units of the PPPBMA were catering to around 65 percent of the country’s paper and board requirements by supplying low cost products for all.

He said, “We are manufacturing 55-70 gram-mage writing paper, with a yearly output of more than half a million tonne. Around 48,000 tonnes of wood pulp is imported yearly.”

He said our paper costs comparatively less as compared with other countries in this region and we use around 10 percent of wood pulp and 90 percent of straw, husk and other agriculture waste in production.

The increase in the prices of paper and paperboard has affected the local price of notebooks, copies, textbooks and office stationery, he added.

He said the price of paper used for schoolbooks and registers etc has increased by Rs 3,100 per tonne to Rs 60,000 per tonne, fine paper used for photographs and notebooks by Rs 4,100 per tonne to Rs 69,000 per tonne, fine-quality paper used for school books etc by Rs 3,950 to Rs 49,800 per tonne and Duplex box paper by Rs 3,100 per tonne to Rs 49,800 per tonne.