Rising paper prices hit publishers hard
The country’s publishing industry has been severely impacted by high paper prices, forcing publishers to limit the number of books they print and reprint in the face of rising production costs.
Due to the high cost of paper and other raw materials, publishers predicted that book prices would rise by around 40 per cent shortly, which might take them beyond the reach of lower-middle-income and middle-income groups — the main buyers of books.
Although the price of paper on the global market is now gradually falling, the prices of imported paper have kept rising due to high dollar prices, importers said.
Ittadi Grantho Prokash publisher Johirul Abedin Jewel said that the cost increased by around 40 per cent for raw materials, including paper, ink, binding board and book cover.
‘One rim 80-gram paper price rose to Tk 2,750 from Tk 1,800 while one rim 100-gram paper price rose to Tk 3,300 from Tk 2,100 compared with the past year. The price is increasing gradually. We have become selective in printing and re-printing books as the rising prices are taking books beyond the reach of many,’ he added.
He said that the book sales had started to come down and that the trend was unlikely to end soon.
‘The prices related to book production materials are extremely high. The binders are also charging higher as they are struggling to make a living with their current income amid high prices of essential commodities,’ he said.
Academic and Creative Publishers Association of Bangladesh executive director Monirul Hoque, also the publisher of Ananya Prakashani, admitted to having passed a very tough time. ‘The rising paper, ink, and binding prices forced us to reduce the print and re-print of books,’ he said.
He said that the price of a book would increase to Tk 800 from Tk 500, reducing its affordability among most readers.
He also appeared concerned about people’s reduced purchasing capacity.
Monirul questioned how people would contemplate purchasing books when they were struggling to make ends meet in the face of high prices of essentials.
‘The parents will not be able to pay such an amount of money for their children. Our main buyers are students, lower-middle-income and middle-income people. Most of the higher-income people buy books to decorate their houses,’ he added.
He said that the government had little chance of saving the publishers due to the corruption and irregularities that plagued it process of buying books.
The University Press Limited managing director, Mahrukh Mohiuddin, echoed the same.
‘We are exporting books to other countries. We have some books in stock, and we printed their prices earlier. The high rate of the dollar forced us to sell at a lower price in the global market,’ she said.
She said that people mostly consider books as non-essential items.
‘It is heartbreaking that readers will have to pay high prices for books. The crisis reminds us that we did not develop our e-book. It could help with reprinting,’ she said.
Writer Selina Hossain said that the decrease in printing and re-printing due to the rise in paper prices would hurt the building of a knowledge-based society.
The Independence Award and Ekushey Padak-winning fiction writer, also the Bangla Academy president, urged the government to tackle the situation by providing subsidies to the country’s publication sector.
Former Dhaka University professor of English Syed Manzoorul Islam said that if the publishers became selective, emerging writers would not get a chance to showcase their talent and the number of books would also come down.
‘The government should reduce the duty on paper imports and its raw materials. The government can stand beside the country’s publication industry, which started to grow only recently,’ he added.
According to the Bangladesh Paper Mills Association, Bangladesh requires about 10 lakh tonnes of paper every year while about 60 to 70 per cent of it is produced locally. Importers meet the rest of the demand.
At Chowdhury Market Nayabazar, Messrs Hiron Enterprise proprietor Md Hiron Miah said that the price of one tonne of paper increased to Tk 1,30,000 in October from Tk 1,00,000 in July.
‘The paper price is increasing gradually. My sales have dropped 95 per cent now,’ he said.
Papertech Industries Ltd general manager Md Kamruzzaman blamed high dollar prices and high prices of raw materials, mainly paper pulp, for the situation.
‘Earlier, we imported a tone of paper pulp at $600 and now it has risen to $1,000. The dollar rate rose to Tk 105 from Tk 85,’ he said, adding that the same paper, which cost Tk 85,000 to Tk 90,000 a year ago, is currently being sold for Tk 1,25,000 a tonne.
Bashundhara Paper Mills Limited chief sales officer Mohammed Masudur Rahman said that the price of the imported raw material pulp has recently doubled.
‘One-tonne pulp prices rose to $900–1200 from $470-500,’ he said.
BPMA general manager AKM Nawsherul Alam claimed that almost 80 per cent of paper mills closed down their operations amid continued losses.
While the country had 100 paper mills in the past, it has now come down to around 20, he said,
‘Many closed their businesses due to losses. Only big paper mills are surviving by providing subsidies from their other ventures,’ he added.
Bangladesh mainly imports papers from Indonesia, China and Korea to meet the local demand, according to Bangladesh Paper Importers Association president Md Shafiqul Islam Vorosha.
‘The price of paper on the global market fell by $200 from $1,150-$1,180 three months ago to $900-920 per tonne. But we could not reduce prices due to high dollar prices, transportation costs, and high duty,’ he said.
He said that the government was not reducing duties to encourage the local industry.
‘Although the price of paper pulp is high, the local industry is making a profit. I think the local production cost should not exceed more than Tk one lakh per tonne,’ he mentioned.
He urged the government to reduce the duty and taxes on paper imports from 47 per cent to 5 per cent.
News Courtesy:
https://www.newagebd.net/article/183953/rising-paper-prices-hit-publishers-hard
