More newsprint importers sought<\/p>\n
YOGYAKARTA (JP): The Association of Indonesian Newspaper
\nPublishers (SPS) urged the government yesterday to facilitate the
\nimportation of newsprint because the current near-monopoly had
\ntaken an increasing toll on the press industry.<\/p>\n
Association secretary-general Leo S. Batubara said newsprint
\nproducer PT Aspex Paper, which is largely controlled by timber
\nbaron Mohamad \"Bob\" Hasan, practically monopolized the
\nprocurement of newsprint for the country's print media.<\/p>\n
\"The government should save the press industry by allowing
\nmore businesses to import newsprint and\/or its raw materials so
\nthat we would not rely on PT Aspex Paper alone,\" Batubara told a
\nseminar on the prospects of the national mass media in
\nYogyakarta.<\/p>\n
The rupiah has depreciated sharply against the U.S. dollar
\nsince July last year with the greenback appreciating at one point
\nmore than 500 percent.<\/p>\n
The price of newsprint has increased more than 500 percent
\nsince January last year when its price was only Rp 1,254 (12 U.S.
\ncents) per kilogram.<\/p>\n
Aspex argues that production costs have risen sharply as it
\nhas to import newsprint raw materials -- mostly used newspapers.<\/p>\n
Aspex agreed in December to allocate 7,500 tons of its product
\nfor the domestic market monthly, while state-owned PT Kertas
\nLetjes provided 3,500 tons locally. Other newsprint producers
\nprovided 4,000 tons.<\/p>\n
\"We depend too much on PT Aspex Paper as the main newsprint
\nimporter,\" said Batubara.<\/p>\n
Batubara acknowledged that it was too costly for the media
\nindustry to have its own paper plant.<\/p>\n
\"We must be extra cautious, because the required investment
\nwould be at least $300 million,\" he noted.<\/p>\n
Batubara said last month that 70 percent of the country's 286
\nnewspapers were on the brink of bankruptcy due to the crisis.<\/p>\n
The economic crisis has affected most of the country's
\npublications, including the financially-strong Kompas, Suara
\nPembaruan, Jawa Pos, and other local newspapers.<\/p>\n
In his address to mark National Press Day last week, Soeharto
\nsaid irresponsible reporting on the economic turmoil had become a
\nboomerang for the media industry.<\/p>\n
\"It has become among the first victims of the current economic
\ncrisis,\" Soeharto remarked. (23\/prb)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/more-newsprint-importers-sought-1447893297",
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