The Indian Paper Association is concerned about the competitiveness of domestic paper mills in the face of cheap imports from China and other Asian countries and has proposed measures to provide a level playing field.
IPMA, the Indian Paper Manufacturers Association, said that with the increase in paper and paperboard imports, especially since the outbreak of the coronavirus, Indian paper manufacturers have been under greater pressure. As a result, the association has written to the Ministry of Commerce and industry of India urging that the basic tariff on paper imports be increased from the current 10% to 25%.
The IPMA also requires paper to be included in the negative list of all existing and future free trade agreements (FTA), so it should be included in the “restrictive” category. IPMA further supports a rule that allows only end consumers to import. IPMA suggested that imports could also be better monitored by allowing paper to be imported through a single designated port in the country.
IPMA proposes these measures to prevent cheap imports from countries such as China and Indonesia. In the 2019 / 2020 business year, dgci & s determined to import 289000 tons of paper from China, an increase of 14% over the previous year. Imports from ASEAN countries increased by 18% year-on-year to 343000 tons, or even higher. In the year under review, India’s total paper imports were about 1.6 million tons, 11 per cent higher than the previous year. This growth has been stable over the past decade. Statistics show that in the past nine years, the import of paper has increased by an average of 13% per year.
Post time: Jul-14-2020