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Our Bureau

`Future domestic newsprint market to remain buoyant'

Kolkata , March 14

Emami Paper Mills Ltd has finalised all formalities to complete the company's Rs 330-crore expansion programme by March 2007, aimed at raising production capacity from 60,000 tonnes to 1,45,000 tonnes per annum in 2007-08.

The company, at this capacity, expects to become the number one newsprint manufacturer in the country against the fourth position now.

Although it is a closely held company of the Rs 700-crore Emami Group, with a manufacturing base only in the eastern region, Emami Paper Mills plans to expand its manufacturing operation in other regions, after the completion of its ongoing expansion plan.

The promoters have plans to make it a three-lakh-tonne-per-annum capacity company in two to three years, adding fresh production capacity of about 1,55,000 tonnes.

The Executive Director of the company, Mr P. S. Patwari, said the company would prefer to have its next manufacturing unit in the western region. The company would ultimately have one unit in each region, and the future capacity creation programme would primarily be done through acquisition of operating mills. The Emami Group is already active on the acquisition front, said Mr Patwari.

Mr Patwari said the future domestic newsprint market would remain buoyant because of the growing mismatch of demand and supply. There has been a minimum 10 per cent growth rate in demand from the print media, while no major investments were made in the country in the newsprint manufacturing sector for the last several years. The demand for 2005-06 was expected to touch at about 16 lakh tonnes, against local production of about 7.5 lakh tonnes of standard newsprint. This means the volume of import would reach about 8.5 lakh tonnes.

Mr Patwari said the company might come out with an IPO preferably when the next phase expansion programme is be initiated.

More Stories on : New Projects | Paper | rd & Newsprint

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