Coated Paper, Cardboard Market Driven by Imports

The entire domestic demand for coated paper, amounting to 40,000 tons annually, is supplied by imports.

Foreign products also meet 70% of the domestic need for cardboard that stands at 300,000-400,000 tons per year, according to the head of Paper and Cardboard Producers Syndicate.

These products are mainly imported from Indonesia, China, South Korea and European countries, Abolfazl Roghani told the Persian daily Forsa –e Emrooz, adding that the monopolization of the market by foreign brands has stymied any competition, giving rise to unreasonably high prices.

The official noted that the high price of coated paper production machinery and low profit margin of the business render investment in the field uneconomical, unless producers have exports in mind.

“Due to the low value of products, smuggling is not a concern in the domestic market,” he said. According to Roghani, domestic producers face the double whammy of shortage of raw material as well as the fact that paper production units are highly water-intensive.