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R. Balaji

Coated papers are used by printers and publishers to prepare project reports, brochures, and calendars and by book publishers.

Chennai , Aug. 12

JK Paper Ltd expects to commence production of coated papers soon while continuing with imports from Europe, according to Mr A.K. Ghosh, General Manager-Sales.

Over the last two years, the company had been importing coated papers from Europe and selling them under its own brands, `JK Cote' and `JK Cote Premium'. The company will now have its own manufacturing facility, a coating machine set up at a cost of Rs 130 crore, which is expected to commence production by October at Orissa.

Coated papers are used by printers and publishers to prepare project reports, brochures, and calendars and by book publishers. The paper quality has a direct impact on the high-speed printing machines prevalent in the industry. JK Paper will now bring out the home made coated paper under JK Cote brand to match the premium product. It will have a capacity to produce about 1-lakh tonne of coated paper a year.

Mr Ghosh told Business Line here on Thursday that despite starting its own production facility, the company would continue to maintain its imports of about 400-500 tonnes of coated paper from Europe.

The move is in line with the proposed drop in import duties by 2005, when a spurt in imports is anticipated. Therefore, it "makes sense for JK Paper to maintain that line."

Also with the imported paper, the company can offer a wider range of paper quality, in terms of weight, grams per square metre (gsm).

This product would strengthen JK Paper's position in the branded product segment.

The company had over the years targeted growth by strengthening its brands. Coated paper segment was growing at about 10 per cent a year, next only to that of copier papers, which ranged around 15-18 per cent, Mr Ghosh said.

Half of the 1,50,000 tonnes of paper that the company produces annually is in the branded segment, particularly copier papers.

It will continue with this line of growth, and is targeting a larger share of the market this year by strengthening marketing.

JK Paper's market share is more than 40 per cent in the branded copier paper segment. It is launching Savannah, a 105-gsm copier paper in 100-sheets packs, for the top-end consumer.

The company perceives a demand for copier paper in colours, other than white, and Savannah is buff coloured.

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