Newsprint prices rise 8%

Newsprint prices have gone up more than 8 per cent in the last six months to Rs 31,000 per tonne of HNL quality of virgin fibre-make and Rs 26,000 per tonne of waster paper-make.

"Prices are well supported by the domestic market demand, which shot up over 15 per cent in the last six months to about 600-700 tonne. With the overall consumption at 1.2 million tonne, the remaining is imported from Canada, the US, Korea and Russia, to name a few countries," said RC Mall, executive director of Andhra Pradesh Paper Mills.

Domestic demand for newsprint has been robust in the last six months as several newspapers and magazines were launched during the period, he added.

"We had made several requests to the government and the directorate of revenue intelligence (DRI) to take action against the imports of newsprint through unscrupulous traders, but every time we were told that this is a very sensitive commodity on which action is not needed. But the DRI this time took initiatives to make the road smooth for paper as well as newsprint business," said R Narayan Moorthy, secretary general, Indian Paper Manufacturers' Association.

The DRI questioned some unscrupulous newsprint importers on Monday and sealed more than a dozen of godowns. The DRI arrested at least five businessmen and seized around 300 tonne of newprint imported from various countries, amounting to Rs 1 crore.

Sources said a number of politicians, some of whom are local MPs and MLAs, are involved in the paper scam and, hence, should be questioned.

DRI sources said the papers, seized, were brought into the country through 14 containers. Of these 12 have been seized and two have been detained. Industry sources said such activities have been being carried out fearlessly for several years.

"Price realisations in newsprint are higher than those in paper. Therefore, traders and importers always prefer to do business in newsprint," a trader said.

"Newsprint attracts zero per cent excise and 5 per cent custom duty. No CVD is charged on newsprint. So, an importer has to pay only 5 per cent import duty against 10 per cent on waste paper "" the raw material for producing newsprint "" and as high as 40 per cent on other papers," Mall added.

"I visited several paper sellers in the Chandani Chowk and found that a number of unknown varieties are introduced in the market which neither the government is aware of nor the industry. In fact, Mumbai and Kolkata customs clear the consignment very easily as there is hardly perceivable difference in newsprint and common paper. They neither take initiatives to get such consignments inspected by experts nor do they understand that a certification from the independent agencies like Lloyds is necessary. And importers take advantage of that and import huge quantity of newsprint to pump into the market," Moorthy said.

According to Registrars of Newspapers, there are about 2,000 newspapers registered in Bihar, of which hardly tens are in real publication. But, importers use newspapers' RNI registration certificates and respective collectorate's clearance which help them buy newsprint easily.

TAPPING CAPTIVE POTENTIAL

Prices up at Rs 31,000 per tonne of HNL quality of virgin fibre make and Rs 26,000 of waster paper make

Domestic demand robust in the last six months since the print media sector saw many new launches

Higher price realisation main attraction for trading in newsprint