For an industry historically beleaguered by low consumption levels, fragmented markets and uneconomic scale of operations, the recent signs of revival are a happy augury for newsprint and paper producers. The current fiscal is definitely a much better one for paper producers after several bad ones.
With a couple of rounds of paper price hikes, bottomlines are expected to improve. However, prosperity in the future will depend on recovery in the US market more than domestic increase in consumption. Most companies have increased their exports, analysts say.
The buoyant tendencies can be seen primarily from lower inventory levels in the industry and improved realizations. If paper demand continues to show healthy growth, the industry can look forward to a period of recovery and expansion. Like most capital-intensive businesses, the global paper industry a cyclical one, so the recovery was not entirely unexpected.
The Indian Newsprint Manufacturers
