Corrugated packaging box makers facing raw material cost shock

    Kolkata, Nov 29 (PTI) The corrugated paper box
industry is facing a crisis as prices of raw material have
shot up by 30-35 per cent threatening to turn the business
unviable, an industry official said.
    In India, there are about 350 automatic corrugators
and more than 10,000 semi-automatic units across the country
and the segment generates direct employment for about 4,00,000
people.
    The corrugated industry said the unprecedented steep
escalation of price of Kraft Paper by the paper mills is the
major hurdle while consuming industries are not willing to
pass on the cost making their business unviable.
    The prices of both domestic and imported waste paper
prices have gone up by Rs 4,500-5,000 per tonne in the last
couple of months.
    China has proposed a ban of waste paper imports from
January 2021 and as a result, the Chinese paper mills are
stocking up the waste paper supplies available in overseas
markets.
    Both China and India import their waste paper
primarily from the USA and Europe for kraft paper
manufacturing.
    However, Federation of Corrugated Box Mfrs of India
president (elect) Milan Kumar Dey questioned the role of paper
mills for raising price sharper than their raw material supply
disruptions.
    "Though mills had been claiming that there is an acute
shortage of pulp due to poor collection of waste paper in
Europe and the USA due to Covid leading to rise in cost of
waste paper," he said.
    However, the mills are not providing the import data
over a medium term questioning their claim. While the price of
domestic waste has increased only by Rs 2-3 per kg. It is a
real question why prices of Kraft paper raised so much and so
rapidly, Dey said. PTI BSM
RG RG

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)