The average initial press run of books (all titles) in Iran stood at 1,401 in the last Iranian year that ended on March 20, 2019.
According to a report by Donya-e-Eqtesad, citing the Iran Book News Agency, the press run of supplementary textbooks stood at 1,866 last year, books for children and teenagers hit 1,962 and that of fiction or non-fiction books was 1,086 last year.
In the third month of the current Iranian year (May 22-June 21), the average press run of books (all titles) stood at 1,075, whereas that of supplementary textbooks was 1,485; books written for children and teenagers reached 1,450 and that of fiction or non-fiction books stood at 894 in the third fiscal month.
An earlier report by Iran Book House showed that between December 22, 2018, and May 21, the print runs of books in Iran decreased by 36%, dropping from an average of 1,878 to 1,175 whereas book prices rose by 37% from an average of 247,807 rials ($2.13) to 339,944 rials ($2.9). The number of book titles during the five-month period also dropped by 27% from 9,197 to 7,250.
The rising price of paper was one of the reasons for this severe decline.
“A total of 39,000 tons of paper were imported last [Iranian] year (March 2018-19) compared with 55,000 tons in the year before. The decline in imports triggered disequilibrium in the paper market,” IRNA quoted Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Abbas Salehi as saying.
Publishers experienced an astonishing 340% increase in the prices of coated paper used in printing and packaging industry over the past year.
Many publishers and print media companies have been pushed out of the market, ever since the recurrent episodes of paper price surges began.
The government allocates subsidized foreign currency at the rate of 42,000 rials per dollar to import paper, while the open market rate currently stands at 116,200 rials.
The considerable difference between subsidized and market rates of the dollar has resulted in widespread corruption in the paper market, just like other markets whose preferred but not incorruptible players have received subsidized dollars.
According to Mohammad Reza Modoudi, the caretaker of Trade Promotion Organization, there is no telling whether subsidized foreign currencies granted to importers have been spent on bringing in essential goods.
"Pricing goods, a hallmark of command economy, is known to beget corruption and rent-seeking behavior," he told the Persian daily Iran recently.
Investigative reporting by local journalists, including those with the Persian daily Shargh, has revealed that if only €22 million of subsidized currency received by two front companies had been rightfully spent on importing newsprint, the ongoing paper crisis facing newspaper and magazine owners would have been resolved by now.
"Printing and writing paper is up to 95% dependent on imports. The country needs about 320,000 tons of printing paper annually. The ministry registered orders for importing 442,000 tons of printing paper last year. Imports and production stood at 270,000 and 22,000 tons, respectively, suggesting that the country has stopped short of importing 28,000 tons of paper needed last year," Deputy Industries Minister Farshad Moqimi said.
