Chennai: South India Corrugated Box Manufacturers’ Association (SICBMA) has urged the Centre to impose an immediate ban on the export of kraft paper in any form, the main raw material in the production of corrugated boxes, as its supply has shrunk by over 50 per cent in the local market in the recent months, hitting production, and threatening to send hundreds of SMEs in in Tamilnadu and Puducherry packing.
Corrugated box (also known as carton box) is a key packaging material for pharma, FMCG, food products, automobiles, electrical appliances, among others.
Tamilnadu and Puducherry have close to 2000 manufacturers – predominantly Micro Small and Medium Enterprises, of corrugated boxes. Though the demand for the boxes is steadily growing post Covid, the manufacturers are not able to ensure supply, as thousands of tonnes of kraft paper are leaving Indian shores for export markets, leaving the local industry high and dry.
The severe shortage, coupled with an unprecedented 65 per cent increase in the price of kraft paper, has pushed manufacturers to the brink of closure, alleged SICBMA.
According to G Nagaraj, president, SICBMA, with the steep rise in the price of kraft paper, triggered largely by the export-led shortage, the cost of manufacturing of corrugated boxes has risen by 60 per cent.