New Jump in Paper Price

According to the correspondent of the Iran Book News Agency (IBNA), the recent jump in the exchange rate has once again affected the paper market; an issue that activists in the publishing and packaging sector call a recurring but deeper crisis. A look at the paper market shows that the price of each ream of writing and printing paper has increased by 20 to 40 percent in recent weeks, and this growth has occurred simultaneously with a decrease in supply and an increase in import costs.

Market experts believe that the main reason for paper price fluctuations is the industry’s dependence on imports. More than 80 percent of the country’s paper consumption is imported from China, Indonesia, South Korea, and some European countries. In this context, the increase in exchange rates has raised purchase, transportation, and insurance costs, forcing importers to adjust prices to avoid losses.

In recent months, whenever exchange rate instability occurs, some importers reduce their imports to be safe from severe price fluctuations. This reduction in supply has caused prices to increase even more than the exchange rate change, widening the gap between supply and demand.

Amidst all these ups and downs, the printing and publishing industry has suffered the most from this price increase. Small and medium publishers with limited working capital are facing a reduction in print runs and an increase in book production costs. In this regard, it must be said that the increase in paper prices is not just a simple price change; rather, it is a chain crisis that started with exchange rate fluctuations and extends to the cultural sphere, economy, and people’s daily consumption. Experts believe that exchange rate stability, facilitating imports, and developing domestic paper industries can be three main pillars for reducing pressure on the paper market and related industries.

IBNA’s correspondent’s monitoring shows that the price of two-sheet zinc in the market was traded between 200,000 to 220,000 Tomans, depending on the brand and country of manufacture. Isopropyl alcohol produced in the Netherlands was announced at 140,000 to 150,000 Tomans per kilogram, and isopropyl alcohol produced in Korea was 160,000 Tomans.

Also, each kilogram of Iranian colored coated ink was 470,000 Tomans, each kilogram of black coated ink was 365,000 Tomans, each kilogram of Iranian colored writing ink was 403,000 Tomans, and each kilogram of Iranian black writing ink was 315,000 Tomans in the market. The price of foreign coated ink increased this week to about 560,000 to 690,000 Tomans.

Iranian cold binding adhesive was traded at 2,850,000 Tomans, and hot adhesive at 320,000 Tomans per kilogram in the market.

Also, a look at the paper market shows that each ream of 70-gram Chinese paper, 100×70 cm, was offered at 2,280,000 Tomans, and its 60×90 cm size at 2,080,000 Tomans. 80-gram cardboard in 70×100 cm size was priced at approximately 2,550,000 Tomans, and 80-gram paper in 60×90 cm size was traded at 2 Tomans per ream.

Furthermore, the price of each kilogram of 250-gram gray-back cardboard was 85,000 Tomans, 180-gram was 84,000 Tomans per kilogram, 230-gram was 85,000 Tomans per kilogram, and 250-gram was 84,000 Tomans per kilogram.

Coated paper, 128-gram basis weight, 100×70 cm size, was priced at 90,000 to 95,000 Tomans per kilogram. 250-gram, 70×100 cm size, was 108,000 Tomans. 300-gram, 70×100 cm size, was about 109,000 Tomans, and 200-gram, 70×100 cm size, was also 109,000 Tomans.