At present over 100 producers of tissues are active in Iran.
Fereydoun Dehkhargani, an official with Iran Cellulose Products Manufacturers of Iran, added that some of these units have more than 1,000 people on their payroll.
“One of the most prominent features of tissue and hygiene industry is its wide range of products, including facial tissue, paper towels, toilet paper, disposable baby diapers, etc. The annual growth rate of tissue products consumption in Iran is 5 to 7% and the country needs more than 230,000 tons of these products every year,” he said.
“Local companies are not only capable of adequately meeting the domestic needs, but they are also capable of raising their output fivefold.”
Noting that Iran sells 14,000 tons of tissue and hygiene products worth $20 million to Iraq, Afghanistan and Central Asian countries per year, Dehkhargani said there is potential for significantly boosting exports.
“All regional countries, except Turkey, are lucrative markets for these products. With lower costs of transport, Iranian producers have an edge over rivals in the neighboring markets,” Forsat-e Emrooz daily reported.
Dehkhargani said despite the adequate supply of domestically-made products, the country is still seeing large volumes of imports.
Abbas Fasih Khoshgard, managing director of Mahin Semnan Company, referred to challenges facing local producers in the field and said overcapacity, high costs of production and high-interest loans currently pose the main problems.
According to Khoshgard, the annual consumption of tissue products stands at 2 kilograms in Iran whereas average consumption in the US and European countries stands at 31 kilograms and 29 kilograms respectively.
