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Friday May 16, 10:58 AM
Vietnam Faces Paper Shortage Despite Production Rise: InsidersHANOI, May 16 Asia Pulse Vietnams domestic market is facing shortages of several different types of paper despite increases in imports and local production, industry insiders said. Although prices were raised 10 to 40 per cent, shortages have still been reported on the local market, making it difficult for publishing houses and printers to purchase supplies.
Vu Van Dung, marketing division director of Tan Mai Co, one of the countrys largest paper producers, said his company had run through its total output capacity. As for printing paper, Tan Mai Co was churning out 4,000 tonnes per month, 10 per cent more than the companys annual output, said Dung. The shortage was even more irrational as imported papers in the first quarter had sharply increased as well. General secretary of the Vietnam Paper and Pulp Paper Association, Vu Ngoc Bao, said that for printing paper alone, the total import volume in the first three months had surged up to 60 per cent over the same period last year. Meanwhile, it was also reported that demand for paper had remained normal. New publications that have emerged in the past few months have been insignificant, and most of the existing major publications have tried to save on materials, Bao said. Moreover, the demand for writing pads and notebooks was low, as these products were sought out most in July and August, and paper producers generally bought materials for the new school year in April or May. Attempting to explain the irrational shortages, some claim the local market has been waiting for another unavoidable price hike. It was reported that the price of paper imported from Indonesia was currently at more than US$800 per tonne, up roughly $140 from Januarys price. Insiders have estimated that importers could turn a profit of more than $100 per tonne after subtracting warehouse fees, interest rates and freight costs. The marketing director of Tan Mai Co, Vu Van Dung, had forecast that it was likely paper for book printing would see a 1015 per cent increase, while figures for writing pads would rise 1315 per cent from now to September. In addition to increased input costs, Dung also attributed the surge to a decrease in imports from China, the main supplier for the domestic market. Echoing Dung, the marketing director of Hong Ha Stationary Co, Truong Quang Luyen, expected a maximum increase of 7 per cent, explaining that paper producers would have to try to save all input costs to compete against each other. The Vietnam Paper Corporation and the Vietnam Paper and Pulp Association have asked the Ministry of Industry and Trade to cut import taxes on materials for the production of printing papers and writing pads by 5 per cent to aid the paper industry. The increasing prices of materials have hindered the production of local paper producers, especially smaller-sized ones. The director of the Anh Phu Paper Production Cos business division, Le Thanh Son, said that materials for paper production were scarce, estimating that supplies in the north alone were roughly half that of demand. He said that his company's total daily output would currently reach only 45 tonnes of paper compared to more than 10 tonnes previously due to the shortage. Despite the 10 per cent price hike, Anh Phu has planned to buy 100 300 tonnes of paper materials from local producers Bai Bang and Viet Nhat; however, it was not available, Son said. (VNA)
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