Newsprint Price Sees 800% Hike

The depreciation of local currency against the US dollar is the main reason behind the exponential rise in paper prices, the head of Paper and Cardboard Producers Syndicate said. 
“The government used to subsidize the import of newsprint, but it is one and a half years since it has discontinued the allocation of cheap dollar at the rate of 42,000 rials for importing newsprint,” Abolfazl Roghani was also quoted as saying by ILNA.  
Noting that local producers cannot meet the demand for newsprint either, he said, “Newsprint prices have increased from 18,000 rials [eight cents] per kilogram five years ago to more than 160,000 rials [70 cents] now. Newspaper companies’ purchasing power for paper has decreased.”
On newsprint consumption, Roghani said, “About five to six years ago, a total of 120,000 tons of newsprint were used in Iran daily. It declined to 60,000 tons in the past couple of years and now paper consumption is highly unlikely to exceed 30,000 tons per day. The development of digital media, the replacement of print media with social media and the surge in newsprint prices are behind the decline in the consumption of newsprint.”
Newsprint is a low-cost, non-archival paper consisting mainly of wood pulp and most commonly used to print newspapers and other publications and advertising materials.