Small publications to get cheaper paper<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): PT Aspex Paper, the country's largest newsprint
\nproducer, has agreed to give a 30 percent discount to small-scale
\npublishing companies.<\/p>\n
However, the newsprint to be sold to the small publications
\nwould be of lower quality, or BB grade, than that sold to other
\ncompanies, Aspex president Lee Won Je said yesterday.<\/p>\n
\"We agreed to sell the newsprint at Rp 1,500 (18 U.S. cents)
\nper kilogram less than the normal price to small publishers,\" Lee
\nsaid after a meeting between the associations of newsprint
\nproducers and newspaper publishers.<\/p>\n
The meeting was mediated by Minister of Industry and Trade
\nMohamad \"Bob\" Hasan.<\/p>\n
Before the meeting, Lee announced to reporters that the
\ncompany had agreed to cut its prices by 20 percent to the small
\ncompanies.<\/p>\n
But the newly appointed Hasan, whose group largely controls PT
\nAspex, several minutes later ordered Lee during the media
\nbriefing to increase the discount to 30 percent.<\/p>\n
\"Can Aspex increase (the discount) by 10 percent?\" said timber
\nbaron Hasan, followed by a room full of laughs.<\/p>\n
Hasan said he could only ask the newsprint producers to
\nnegotiate with publishers, as the government could not subsidize
\nthe industry.<\/p>\n
Aspex sells the undiscounted newsprint at US$505 per ton. This
\nprice was fixed at yesterday's meeting for the next three months.<\/p>\n
Lee said his company, however, would only allocate 350 tons of
\nnewsprint a month -- out of its monthly production of 7,500 tons
\n-- to small-scale publishers.<\/p>\n
The secretary-general of the Newspaper Publishers Association,
\nLeo Batubara, said that amount would not be enough to cover all
\nsmall-scale publishers.<\/p>\n
He said about 70 percent of the country's 286 companies needed
\nthe discount. These include publications whose monthly newsprint
\nconsumption did not exceed 10 tons. Most of these companies were
\nlocated without Java, he said.<\/p>\n
\"Ideally, Aspex should allocate about 1,050 tons of discounted
\nnewsprint to help all the needy companies, but it said it could
\nonly meet about a third of the demands,\" Leo said.<\/p>\n
At yesterday's meeting, the price of newsprint sold by another
\nproducer, PT Kertas Leces, was fixed at US$500 a ton for the next
\nthree months.<\/p>\n
Leces president Supardi said his company currently sold under
\nthe set price, based on negotiations on the quality of its
\nproducts, as it had begun new production in January.<\/p>\n
Other producers, including PT Gede Karang of the Pos Kota
\ngroup, PT Adi Prima of Jawa Pos Group, PT Setia Kawan and PT
\nSuparma, will sell their products at prices based on
\nnegotiations.<\/p>\n
All the prices would use the rupiah-dollar conversion rate at
\nthe close of trade on the Friday prior to the transaction.<\/p>\n
The prices will be effective April through June this year.<\/p>\n
Monthly domestic supply amounts to 15,000 tons, of which 7,500
\ntons comes from Aspex, 3,500 tons from Leces and the remaining
\n4,000 tons from the other four companies.<\/p>\n
The rupiah's free-fall against the US dollar has threatened
\nthe survival of the press industry which is susceptible to
\nfluctuations in the rupiah's exchange rate as prices of imported
\nnewsprint had increased by about 270 percent since last July.<\/p>\n
Burdened by the price hike and less advertising, many smaller
\npublications have shut down, while larger ones have either
\nreduced the number or size of their pages. (das)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/small-publications-to-get-cheaper-paper-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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