At a paper factory (Photo: tapchicongthuong.vn) Dang Van Son, the association vice president and general secretary, said thepaper industry had grown by over 10% annually in recent years to produce nearly10 million tonnes a year now.
There are some 500 firms in the paper and pulp industry.
Around 90% of their output is normal packaging paper for the garment andtextile, woodworking and other industries.
"Vietnam is now one of the largest packaging paper producers in SoutheastAsia," Son told a meeting held to introduce four internationalexhibitions, Paper Vietnam, Rubber and Tyre Vietnam, Coatings Expo Vietnam, andPlastech Vietnam, in HCM City late last month.
Most of the output was sold domestically, he said.
But since September 2022 the industry had faced difficulties since demand inboth the domestic and export markets had shrunk, he said.
“It is currently a supporting industry for exports such as footwear, textilesand furniture, and so their decline in exports has led to a decrease inconsumption of packaging paper.”
"Paper mills are only operating at 50- 60% of capacity now," he said.
“We exported one million tonnes of paper in 2022, but this year it maydecrease. Export orders have decreased sharply. In the domestic market, demandis forecast to decrease by 10%. This is a huge difficulty for businesses.”
With more new mills set to be commissioned in the coming years, another threemillion tonnes of output would be added by 2025, mainly of packaging paper,with foreign enterprises too seeking to invest in the industry, he said.
Demand for normal packaging paper is high in the domestic market, but supplyhas increased faster than demand, leading to oversupply, according to theassociation.
The country spends billions of dollar to import high-quality packaging, coatedand other technical paper varieties.
Besides exporting to traditional markets such as China, the US and EU, theindustry should also enter new markets such as the Americas, Middle East andNorth Africa, Son said.
Participating in trade fairs would give businesses a great opportunity toaccess new customers.
The industry faces difficulties such as reliance on imported raw materialssince investment in pulp production remains modest and lack of skilled humanresources.
It imports more than 500,000 tonnes of pulp a year, while the country exportsover 15 million tonnes of wood chips, the main raw material for pulpproduction.
"The industry is naturally suited to a circular economy as its basic rawmaterials come from planted forests and used paper," Son said.
Addressing the lack of raw materials was among the keys to sustaining theindustry, and the Government should encourage investment in pulp productionusing modern technology that ensures environmental protection, he said.
Fostering co-operation between academia and industry was imperative to ensureskilled human resources for the industry, he added./.
VNA
