More newsprint importers sought

YOGYAKARTA (JP): The Association of Indonesian Newspaper Publishers (SPS) urged the government yesterday to facilitate the importation of newsprint because the current near-monopoly had taken an increasing toll on the press industry.

Association secretary-general Leo S. Batubara said newsprint producer PT Aspex Paper, which is largely controlled by timber baron Mohamad "Bob" Hasan, practically monopolized the procurement of newsprint for the country's print media.

"The government should save the press industry by allowing more businesses to import newsprint and/or its raw materials so that we would not rely on PT Aspex Paper alone," Batubara told a seminar on the prospects of the national mass media in Yogyakarta.

The rupiah has depreciated sharply against the U.S. dollar since July last year with the greenback appreciating at one point more than 500 percent.

The price of newsprint has increased more than 500 percent since January last year when its price was only Rp 1,254 (12 U.S. cents) per kilogram.

Aspex argues that production costs have risen sharply as it has to import newsprint raw materials -- mostly used newspapers.

Aspex agreed in December to allocate 7,500 tons of its product for the domestic market monthly, while state-owned PT Kertas Letjes provided 3,500 tons locally. Other newsprint producers provided 4,000 tons.

"We depend too much on PT Aspex Paper as the main newsprint importer," said Batubara.

Batubara acknowledged that it was too costly for the media industry to have its own paper plant.

"We must be extra cautious, because the required investment would be at least $300 million," he noted.

Batubara said last month that 70 percent of the country's 286 newspapers were on the brink of bankruptcy due to the crisis.

The economic crisis has affected most of the country's publications, including the financially-strong Kompas, Suara Pembaruan, Jawa Pos, and other local newspapers.

In his address to mark National Press Day last week, Soeharto said irresponsible reporting on the economic turmoil had become a boomerang for the media industry.

"It has become among the first victims of the current economic crisis," Soeharto remarked. (23/prb)