Paper price hike hands fresh blow to education, printing
The education sector and the printing industry have been dealt a major blow no sooner had they begun to make a comeback from two-year-long closures and business slowdown owing to the coronavirus pandemic.
Educational institutions in Bangladesh were largely closed since the outbreak of the virus in the country in March 2020. But as coronavirus caseloads have dropped sharply in recent weeks, the government is gradually allowing in-person classes.
Similarly, the printing industry that saw its business hit the rock bottom as demand fell is hoping for a strong revival as the economy is recovering strongly.
But the recent rise in paper price caused by the hike in paper pulp, the raw material, and the supply disruption caused by the Russian-Ukraine war, means parents, who are already under pressure for the increasing inflation, will find it difficult to afford the key learning ingredient for their children, while the hope for a swift recovery for the printing industry may be dashed.
In the last three and a half months, the price of papers rose by a minimum of 31 per cent in Bangladesh.
The price shot to Tk 90,000 per tonne in the first half of March, up from Tk 70,000 in December, according to millers and traders.
"The printing industry is facing trouble as millers can't supply the paper on time on the excuse of raw material shortage," said Shahid Serneabat, chairman of the Printing Industries Association of Bangladesh (PIAB).
"With much difficulty, we were able to print school books and deliver them. But now, students need exercise books as schools and colleges are reopening."
He claimed some millers had received advance payment to supply printing and writing paper. Three to four months have passed, but millers are yet to supply the paper.
Serneabat also alleged that a number of businessmen import papers using the bonded warehouse facility to use them in export-oriented products. Instead, they sell them in the local market at a profit of 20 per cent at the expense of the local printing industry.
"This is the major reason for the volatility in the paper market."
Bangladesh has more than 100 paper mills with a combined annual production capacity of more than 15 lakh tonnes of paper and paper products.
But less than half the capacity is used as a major portion of the annual domestic requirement of around 11 lakh tonnes is met with imported paper and packaging materials.
Of the mills, seven major companies -- Akij Group, Amber Group, Bashundhara Group, Meghna Group, Partex Group, Creative Paper Mills, and Papertech Industries -- manufacture quality papers.
MM Nurun Nabi, executive director of Partex Paper Mills Ltd, said the prices of pulp had declined to $650 per tonne before surging to $850 per tonne recently.
Bangladesh mainly imports pulp from Indonesia, Brazil and Canada to make paper to meet the requirement of the domestic market as well as to export.
"Suppliers say there is a shortage," Nabi said.
He blamed the increased freight cost for the fuel price hike amid the Russia-Ukraine war for the increase in the paper price.
"But we can't raise the prices faster like other sectors."
Tofayel Khan, a former chairman of the PIAB, buys a board used in packaging for Tk 3,600 whereas it was Tk 1,200 only three months ago.
Similarly, the price of art paper has surged 80 per cent due to the supply chain disruption, a direct impact of the war. Russia is also a major player in paper production.
The price might increase further due to the depreciation of the local currency against US dollars as imports are growing at a faster rate than exports.
An official of Pran-RFL Group, which makes exercise books by purchasing papers from local mills, said prices are gradually going up.
Currently, the company buys paper at around Tk 97,000 per tonne against Tk 68,000-Tk 70,000 six to seven months ago. It had bought the same paper at Tk 85,000 per tonne in December and January.
"We have to increase the prices of exercise books by around 10 per cent to adjust the increased costs," the official said.
Mosharraf Hossain, a proprietor of Zaman Paper in the city's Motijheel area, says the price of all categories of papers increased by Tk 100 to Tk 350 per ream, which consists of 500 identical sheets.
A ream of offset paper imported from Indonesia was sold at Tk 250 to Tk 260 at the wholesale level a week ago. Now, it costs Tk 400, said Mohammad Mamun, who runs a stationery shop in the city's Karwan Bazar.
One ream of white papers produced in Bangladesh was sold at Tk 330 a week ago whereas the price now stands at Tk 362.
"When we asked why the price has gone up, suppliers said that the cost of pulp and chemicals has gone up," said Mamun.
The price of exercise books has gone up by Tk 10 to Tk 20, said Ujjal Hossain, a salesman at a stationery store in West Tejturi Bazar.
"The supplier told me that the price would increase by another Tk 5 to Tk 10 when he returns to deliver products next week."
Arman Hossain, who works at a footwear company, says the exercise book that he bought for his daughter at Tk 35 previously cost him Tk 45 on Tuesday.
"It will be difficult to bear educational expenses if essential educational items such as exercise books become expensive," said Rima Jahan, a student of the University of Dhaka.
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