Baku, Azerbaijan, June 13
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
The Islamic Republic exports packaging paper to European and African countries as well as China, South Korea and East Asia, Abolfazl Roghani Golpayegani, the chairman of the Paper and Cardboard Producers Union of Iran, said.
Roghani Golpayegani, who heads Iran's Chamber of Commerce's Industries Commission, said that the country has exported about 30,000 tons of packaging paper during the current fiscal year, started March 20, IRIB news agency reported June 13.
The figure is expected to reach 200,000 tons by year-end (March 2019), which is two times more than the exported volume in the last fiscal year, when Iran exported 100,000 tons of packaging paper to global markets.
Iran’s packaging paper production amounted to 540,000 tons in the last fiscal year, registering a 60 percent rise year-on-year.
Roghani Golpayegani said that production of papers for publications (books, newspapers, magazines, etc.) is not in good condition, adding that the country relies on import in this sector, because the administration did not support the domestic producers.
Iran’s annual demand for writing paper stands at 380,000 tons, of which 230,000 tons is supplied via imports, Roghani Golpayegani, who is also managing director of Mazandaran Wood and Paper Industries (MWPI), said.
Iran also needs 120,000 tons of paper per year for printing newspaper, he said, adding that despite the fact that Iran’s paper industry has the suitable capacity and infrastructure for producing this type of paper, no investment was made in this sector due to lack of support by the administration.
Iran pays some $1,000 for each ton of paper needed for printing newspaper, he said, adding that Iran’s real demand for this paper is 70,000 tons and the imported volume (120,000 tons) is beyond the true demand of the country.
He requested the culture ministry to adopt a precise supervisory and management approach in this field.
Iranians consume about 2 million tons of different types of paper and cardboard, of which 400,000 tons a year are used for publications.
Earlier in April Roghani Golpayegani said that paper production in Iran has come to a complete stop due to the massive supply of cheap imported paper and cardboard on the Iranian market, mostly from China.
The total demand on the local market during the last Iranian fiscal year was supplied by imported paper and cardboard, and the national producers were forced to either store their products or turn them into pulp, according to Roghani Golpayegani.