The decrease of 40 thousand tons of imported print and writing paper in 2018/ the decline in prices continues.

In an interview with Tasnim News Agency cultural reporter, pointing to the new notice announced by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance about calling for paper imports , the head of Association of Paper and Cardboard Importers said, "Fortunately, importers have welcome the paper imports very much so far because paper imports face reliable market in current situations and is profitable and the demand is relatively high."

He continued, "Paper is currently imported both through the system of the Ministry of Islamic Guidance at the USD exchange rate of  4200Tomans while cardboard and glossy paper are imported by at the NIMA exchange rate. Luckily, according to the agreement made between Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade and the Association of Importers, it is not necessary to make a contract with consumers before importing glossy paper and cardboard."

Concerning some importers' complaints about not clearing paper from customs because of the lack of directives on how to calculate the imports made by the USD at the exchange rate of 4200Tomans, Mirbagheri said, "I have found no problems in this regard, but as far as the customs authorities stated, the importers who have previously purchased the foreign currency, and their cargo has arrived at customs, there is no ban in this respect. They can solve their issue by referring the Association or the Paper Working Group."

Referring to the fall in paper price in recent weeks, he said, "Since two weeks ago when it was announced the exchange rate of 4200Tomans would be dedicated to paper, the paper price on the free market has had a declining trend. If the Central Bank provides the importers with the foreign currency, we will experience a significant decline in the price of the paper on the market." 

Referring to the volume of the paper imports last year and the fact that is said the paper imports in 2018 were around 40 times as much as the year before, Mirbagheri said, "Over, 20 thousand tons of paper was distributed among publishers in the second half of the year 2018, and the experts estimates 40 thousand tons of paper is annually required for publication, we can say we meet the publishers' requirement for a half of the year."

He added, "We do not know the basis of the statistics announced that we had imported over 40 times as much as before, but with respect to print and writing paper, we imported from 30 to 40 thousand tons of paper less than before, which was resulted from the issues and problems of foreign currency in the country. I think we will not have problems with supplying foreign currencies because of the measures taken in the Working Group. " 

In response to whether a legal case has been opened for the importers belonging to the Association or not, Mirbagheri said, "I do not think there is a legal case for one of the members regarding having received foreign currency but not having imported paper. However, I do not know whether there is a lawsuit filed against anyone or not."