Selected articles on industrial development in emerging economies

India: Ballarpur makes USD 200 mn bid for Malaysian paper major

Ballarpur Industries has bid close to USD 200 million for Malaysia's largest paper manufacturer, GS Paper & Packaging Group (GSPP). GSPP is a major player in the container board segment of the Malaysian paper market.

The Economic Times

South Africa: Sappi surprises investors

Sappi has posted a healthy increase in sales and operating profit in the quarter to end-December. According to CEO Ralph Boëttger, demand for Sappi's major products continued to improve, the exception being coated mechanical paper.

Fin24.com

India: Cheap paper imports from China hurting forestry sector

A sudden rise in import of wood-based products like paper and paperboard from China and Indonesia is hitting India’s agro-forestry sector. As India is among world's fastest growing paper markets, domestic paper industry is also worried that the rich raw material base of the country will become vulnerable if imports are not curbed.

The Financial Express

Indonesian producers overwhelmed by boom in global orders

The Indonesian pulp industry is set to rebound from the global economic downturn as international orders have started to pile up with domestic pulp producers. According to the Indonesian Pulp and Paper Association (APKI), foreign orders now amount to more than 2.5 million tons of pulp this year — more than half of the country’s annual production capacity of 4.5 million tons.

The Jakarta Post

India: To boost exports, domestic companies go in for forest certification

As international buyers insist on the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification as a necessary prerequisite to place orders, more and more domestic companies are going in for the qualification to help increase their exports. Forest certification is a mechanism for forest monitoring, tracing and labelling timber, wood and pulp products, besides non-timber forest products where the quality of management is judged against a series of agreed standards.

The Hindu Business Line

Russian timber backlog at Finnish border

Russian wood supply organisations have felled and stored an estimated 6-10 million cubic metres of timber near the Finnish border, in hopes that Finnish wood processing companies would continue to buy Russian wood, after Russia decided to cancel the latest hike in its export tariffs on raw timber.

YLE.fi

2009-05-27

Indonesia: Paper industry flourishes in first quarter

Strong demand, in part boosted by the recent general elections, helped propel Indonesia’s paper and printing materials industry to grow 10.16 percent in the first quarter from a quarter earlier, the fastest quarterly growth since the financial crisis in the late 1990s, reflecting a surprisingly good economic environment.

The Jakarta Post

Czech paper, cardboard production down by 10% in 2008

Paper and cardboard output in the Czech Republic declined by 10 percent year-on-year to 924,000 tonnes in 2008, while in the previous ten years it had been growing, according to the Czech Pulp and Paper Industry. The fall was mainly caused by the wind-up of the paper mill in Steti, north Bohemia, last May and the closure of the paper mill in Bela pod Bezdezem, central Bohemia, in the autumn.

Prague Daily Monitor

India: Paper industry seeks anti-dumping duty and land for plantations

Despite witnessing healthy growth rate during last decade, Indian paper industry faces huge challenges from dumping of cheap paper products from China and Indonesia and availability of land for pulp wood plantations over next few years.

The Financial Express

Indonesia: South Korean firm inks USD 500m pulp deal

South Korea’s Korindo Group is planning to invest USD 500 million in a factory on Kalimantan Island, with the capacity to process 600,000 tons of pulp annually for particle board and paper. The factory will use acacia mangium and eucalyptus as raw materials.

Jakarta Globe

India: Paper mills may be allowed to develop wasteland

The Indian paper industry is handicapped by raw material constraints because paper manufacturers are not allowed to hold large tracts of land to raise plantations for pulpwood

The Hindu Business Line

South Africa: World slowdown takes toll on Sappi

Paper and pulp producer Sappi yesterday reported a decline in operating profit in the December quarter, blaming the fall on plummeting global demand and a slump in prices.

BusinessDay

Latin America: Sawlog and pulpwood market

Eucalyptus prices in Brazil have doubled in four years ― Declining pulpwood prices in Chile and much uncertainty ahead in 2009 ― Uruguay is expanding both wood chip exports and pulp manufacturing.

FORDAQ

Indian paper industry fastest growing in the world

The Indian paper industry accounts for about 1.6% of the world's production of paper and paperboard. The pulp and paper industry will grow at an estimated CAGR of 7-8% over the next decade. The installed capacity in the country is also slated to grow to 11.2 million tonne per annum by 2010 from the current level of 9 million tonne.

The Economic Times