Protest against price hike of papers

Ludhiana, April 28, 2016: Not willing to simply accept frequent price rise of various raw materials including card board, kraft and other kind of papers, members of Offset Printers’ Association (OPA) unanimously decided for a token one day strike on 30 April to protest the undue and unnecessary increase in the prices of paper and paper board.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr.Parveen Aggarwal, President said, during the past 2/3 months there was constant increase in the prices of paper, the kraft paper which was available at 25 to 26 Rs per Kg is now available at Rs. 30 per KG, there was increase of 2 rupee per kg in the cardboard. It is not practical to withstand this undue increase. These prices are being increased by the paper mills/dealers constantly and the printers are not getting any relief, because they are bound to supply the printed boxes and other material as per earlier committed prices. On the one hand printer has to purchase the raw material at higher price and sell the finished goods at lower prices due to earlier commitments/agreements.”

Mr. Kushl Kumar Jain, Vice President OPA said, The prices of the paper and paper board are being increased by the paper mills without any prior information, with the result the packaging industry has to face awkward situation as the orders for supply of corrugated and duplex boxes are booked 3 to 4 months in advance. It may therefore not be possible for us to supply the boxes at the earlier agreed rates. We are facing this situation for the last three months. Moreover the rates of the paper are being increased by the mills without any convincing reason.

Mr. Gagandeep Singh, Secretary OPA said, Printing and Packaging industry is already suffering due to non availability of skilled and semi skilled work force in this part of the country. Our business is also suffering due to slump in the market and due to tax free zones in the neighbouring states. Import of Chinese goods has added more suffering to the trade. If the prices of the paper and paper board are not controlled we may have to down the shutters.

Mr. Kamal Chopra, General Secretary draws attention to the Essential Commodities Act 1955 in which all kind of paper are declared as an essential commodity. By this logic it is the duty of the Government to come to the rescue and check any undue increase in the prices of the Paper and Paperboard by the mills/dealers. He said the one day token strike on 30th April could turn into an indefinite strike if the following is not undertaken
i) There must be at least 3 month prior intimation for any increase in the prices; paper mills must make this information public so that the information may reach our customers and end users also.
ii) Since Paper is an essential commodity, complete specification, date of manufacturing and mill rates must be displayed on the wrappers.
iii) Government should consider giving some subsidy to purchase the raw material to save this industry
iv) The import duty on paper and paperboard may be abolished, so as to import the paper from other countries when there is shortage in India.