Govt told to curb paper dumping practices<\/p>\n
A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The local paper industry has demanded the government take
\nimmediate action against alleged dumping practices by paper
\nmanufacturers from Finland, South Korea, India and Malaysia.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian Pulp and Paper Association said the countries
\nhad flooded the market with their paper products, which would
\nseriously damage the local industry if the government did not act
\nquickly.<\/p>\n
The association, spearheaded by three paper and pulp giants --
\nPT Indah Kiat Pulp & Paper, PT Pabrik Kertas Tjiwi Kimia and PT
\nPindo Deli Pulp & Paper Mills -- demanded the Ministry of Trade
\nand Industry launch anti-dumping measures against coated and
\nuncoated printing and writing paper products from the countries.<\/p>\n
Foreign companies which have been accused of dumping their
\nproducts here are Stora Enso and UPM Kyemmne (from Finland);
\nHansol, Shin Moorim and Shin Ho (South Korea); TNPL and Shashi
\nShahi (India); and Sabah Forest (Malaysia).<\/p>\n
The paper association had previously appealed to the
\nIndonesian Anti Dumping Commission (KADI) to launch an
\ninvestigation into the practices.<\/p>\n
According to the association, if immediate action was not
\ntaken, the domestic paper industries would suffer seriously in
\nthe future.<\/p>\n
The association claimed that heavily dumped imports had
\nincreased steadily. Last year, dumped coated paper imports
\nincreased by a staggering 1,100 percent, it said.<\/p>\n
Besides the loss of sales volume and market share to the
\nimports, the domestic paper industry had had to reduce its prices
\nto compete, which reduced profitability.<\/p>\n
"The domestic paper industry has reduced the price by up to
\nseven percent," said Suresh Kilam, the deputy chairman of the
\nassociation, in a press conference here.<\/p>\n
The domestic paper industry has already seen the cessation of
\ncoated paper production by one of its members in 2001 due to the
\nunfair competition from dumped imports, the association said.<\/p>\n
According to Suresh, the dumping practices were evident by the
\nlow price of paper that the foreign manufacturers offered on the
\nIndonesian market, while at the same time, they sold their
\nproducts at higher prices in their own countries.<\/p>\n
"They sell their products at prices of between US$700 to $800
\nper ton at their home markets, while they sell it here at around
\n$500 per ton," Suresh quoted was quoted by Antara as saying.<\/p>\n
The situation faced by the domestic paper industry was
\naggravated by the government policy, which imposed no tariffs on
\nimported paper, he said.<\/p>\n
This was not fair, because other Southeast Asia countries such
\nas Thailand and The Philippines still imposed five percent
\ntariffs on imported paper to protect local industries, he said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/govt-told-to-curb-paper-dumping-practices-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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