Paper industry body flags below-cost imports, demands level playing field

Indian Paper Manufacturers Association (IPMA) has expressed concerns over rising imports of virgin fibre paperboard from countries like China and Chile, saying that below-cost shipments are hitting local producers and threatening their investments.

The IPMA said that imports of virgin fibre paperboard (VFP), mainly used as packaging material for pharma, FMCG, and cosmetics products, have grown more than three-fold to 21,233 tonnes per month in the first six months of 2024-25 compared to the average 6,337 tonnes per month in 2021-22.

"In August and September of the current fiscal, imports have been over 30,000 tonnes per month, which is over 20 per cent of the total domestic demand," IPMA said in a statement while demanding a level-playing field for local manufacturers.

The situation is getting exacerbated by the rising imports from China and Chile and the impending threat of large-scale imports from Indonesia due to the recent capacity expansion of 1.2 million tonnes per annum mainly targeted at exports, the industry body said.

"The landed price of VFP imports is below the sales cost of the domestic industry, straining profitability and return on investments of domestic manufacturers," IPMA President Pawan Agarwal said.

The VFP market is expected to touch Rs 25,000 crore by 2030 from Rs 10,000 crore at present and domestic companies have lined up investment of Rs 20,000 crore to tap this growth, Agarwal said.

"The economic viability of the investments has been impacted significantly in view of dumping of product at prices far below production cost," he added.

IPMA has urged the government to create a level playing field for domestic manufacturers.