Paper manufacturing company Nine Dragons plans India unit near Paradip

Nine Dragons Paper Ltd, a public listed paper manufacturing company in Mainland China intends to set up a unit near Paradip, its first facility in India.

The company based in Guangdong (China) is the largest manufacturer of recycled paper in the world. It has production bases across eight locations in China, a joint venture company in Vietnam and two paper pulp mills it acquired in USA.

"Nine Dragons has asked for 200 acres of land. They are keen to establish a facility near Paradip as it will be convenient to import the raw material needed to run the plant. The company does not need any virgin pulp," said Nitin Bhanudas Jawale, managing director of Industrial Promotion & Investment Corporation of Odisha Ltd (Ipicol).

Nine Dragons is engaged in production of linerboard, high performance corrugating medium, coated duplex board, printing and writing paper. Its Dongguan base in China boasts of an annual capacity of 5.25 million tonnes (mt) in design production.

In its financial report for 2018-19, Nine Dragons admitted that 2018-19 was very challenging for China's packaging paperboard industry as well as for the company. Demand was tepid and prices remained depressed owing to Sino-US trade tensions.

By contrast, India offers an island of growth for the paper market when global market is experiencing de-growth. The country is the fastest growing paper market, driven by an aspirational middle class, urbanisation, rise in disposable income and constant exposure to international trends. With a per capita paper consumption of 13 kg, India heavily trails the global average of 57 kg, though the consumption is growing at the rate of 6-7 per cent year-on-year. The favourable metrics possibly explains Nine Dragons' planned entry into the India market.

Recently, a delegation of top Odisha government officials staged a  roadshow  at Guangzhou province in China. The promotional activity proved to be a roaring success with over 100 companies attending it.

“We have got queries from companies in petrochemicals, food processing and electronics- they figure among our focus sectors listed in our latest Industrial policy statement. Out of our goal of drawing Rs 2.5 trillion investments in six focus sectors by 2025, we have already attracted Rs 2.4 trillion worth of investments”, said Jawale.

The state team to showcase Odish's investment strengths also organized a roadshow in Singapore.