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Price hikes may shared paper producers
Local paper manufacturers are set for severe competition from imports after increasing the prices of writing and printing paper and newsprint by VND2 million (US$95) a tonne.
In mid-January notebook printer Vinh Tien Company received notice of the hike. Nguyen Minh Trung, the company's Marketing Director, said locally made paper now cost much more than imports.
Tan Mai Paper Joint Stock Company has hiked the price of writing paper by VND2.2 million to VND23.1 million and that of newsprint by VND800,000 to VND14.49 million.
Phan Minh Nghia, Deputy General Director of Tan Mai, said the company was forced to put up prices because of the weakening of the dong and high bank interest rates.
But the prices of printing and writing paper imported from Indonesia and Malaysia remained unchanged at VND21.5 million to VND22 million per tonne.
According to the HCM City unit of the Viet Nam Paper Manufacturers Association, last year 2.3 to 2.4 million tonnes of paper was consumed, half of it imported.
But raw materials are locally available for just 50 per cent of production. The dependence on imported raw materials is the main reason for price hikes when global raw material prices rise.
The Government has many afforestation projects to produce raw materials for paper industry but most of them will take several years to mature.
The Viet Nam Paper Manufacturers Association says poor quality makes some local products less competitive.
Following tariff cuts under Viet Nam's WTO commitments, there is no import tax on writing and printing paper and a 3 per cent tariff on newsprint imported from ASEAN member countries.
Le Hung Vong
vietnamnews
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