The representative of paper consumers of the country said, “At present, paper market is calm, but the Cabinet wants to disrupt it. If they want to continue to be stubborn and keep on increasing the tariff, we definitely promise to boycott the domestic production.”
Objecting the increase in the tariff import of paper, Gholamreza Shoja, the representative of paper consumers, said, “Since the beginning of last year, domestic paper manufacturers, mainly Mazandaran Wood and Paper Company, have suggested the tariff on the paper import should increase from 4% to 15% on which we have had numerous meetings, and I, as the representative of paper consumers, attended many meetings on this issue with the different organizations to explain the situation of publication and press and the problems of the tariff increase.”
*Domestic producers do not have the ability of production
He added, “We are the supporters of the domestic production, but the domestic producers do not have the ability of production, there are not enough trees at all for paper production, or the pulp is imported from other countries by manufacturers, and the problems of governmental management are added to aforesaid issues. For example, Mazandaran Wood and Paper Company can manage itself with 20% of the current personnel, but it cannot even pay the employees’ salaries due to the lack of management and imposed employment, and it has no production at all. It pays off its debts to offset printing houses and textbooks printing and publication Company with 7 months delay. It has owed 10 thousand tons of paper to each of them and delivered them with 7 month delay, but it announced in its reports to the Ministery of Industry, Mine and Trade that indiscriminate imports of paper caused this company to store their products while this claim is not true.”
Shoja said, “Ms. Nabati, the CEO of Chemicals and Cellulose Industries, sent a letter to me last year; in one of the items, she pointed that 13 thousand tons of paper is stocked, while her claim was not true because the factories did not manage to fulfill their commitments.”
*The paper domestically produced is not suitable for printing.
Pointing this year suggestion, he continued, “This year they have proposed the import tariff to be increased from 5% to 10% that means a 100% increase in import tariff, while the paper consumers believe if Mazandaran Wood and Paper Factory which is the largest manufacturer of writing and newsprint paper has 1000 employees, its paper is not suitable for printing. Even “Iran” newspaper is not willing to purchase domestic paper, and most governmental newspaper use foreign paper, and only “Hamshahri” newspaper use its paper for its advertising section; it is said this newspaper has pre-purchased this company’s paper, whereas the Press Cooperative with 2500 members has referred there several times and they did not have paper to sell to cooperative.”
*The private sector was not invited.
This paper consumer referring to the situation of the circulation of books and press in the country said, “I was not invited to the meeting, and no representative of private sector was not invited to this meeting. The holder and inviter of the meeting was “Ali Aliabadi Farahani”, the managing director of the Bureau of Import & Export Regulations, in which it was proposed to increase the import tariff of newsprint and writing paper from 5% to 10%. All the governmental bodies were invited, but private sector, even the representatives of press and publishers were not invited.”
Ahoja said, “This event will lead to unemployment because 3000 people are involved in working for all paper manufacturing companies, but around 100 thousand people are directly or indirectly working in the opposite side including lithographs, printing houses, bookbinders, newspaper printing sectors, etc.”
He added, “They intend to increase the tariff for the excuse of supporting national production so that they can cover their mismanagement. At present, Mazandaran Wood & Paper Factory is not an economical unit because they do not make but assemble paper. Our factories are not updated which cause their production not be economically justifiable. The problems which we have in car manufacturing factories with “Pride” we have in paper making mills with old technology.”
*Supporting the domestic production with the policy of the 11th Cabinet
This activist of printing sector said, “We also want to support the domestic production, but the factories should be updated. The government can also support the national production by a supportive package by paying low interest facilities or by exempting them from tax. The worst support which can government offer is to increase the import tariff which cause unemployment and recession as well as it is taking people’s money because where a printing house suffers from recession and buys the paper more expensively, it will sell more expensively, and the costs are paid by the people.”
*The Cabinet intends to disrupt the paper market
He added, “The increase in the price of paper has a psychological impact on the society because all people use it. At present paper market has a relative calm, but the Cabinet intends to disrupt it. The quantity of the imported paper is 400 thousand tons which is not remarkable when compare with the capacity of a Chinese or an Indian factory.”
Shoja, referring to the quantity of domestic production, said, “In the most optimistic condition a part of which is not realistic, our domestic production is 17% of consumption of writing paper a majority of which is produced by Mazandaran Wood & Paper Company, and Pars Co. is active in exporting pulp.”
He added, “The Iranian paper soes not the capacity of color printing and is not suitable for books and newspapers. If they could produce 50% of domestic consumption which consists of high quality paper, they would be able to increase imports, and no one will oppose it.”
*If the import tariff increases, we will boycott domestically produced paper
Shoja finally said, “This model of supporting domestic manufacturer is the worst method which is the red line of consumers, too, and if the Cabinet wants to be stubborn and follows the tariff increase, we definitely promise to boycott the domestically produced paper. It is a injustice towards people and is construed as emptying the people’s pockets.”