PIES 13 - 17 July 2009:Paper Consumption Is Set To Increase

Paper consumption is set to increase over the years and the government should make it more attractive for local industries to set up more paper mills here in collaboration with foreign investors.
“More than half of what is used now is imported,” Malaysia Paper Merchants’ Association(MaPMA) secretary Manmohan Singh said at its 20th anniversary dinner last night which was graced by Deputy Finance Minister.
“About 150,000 tonnes is produced locally at the Sabah Forest Industries(SFI) in Sipitang, Sabah, Malaysia’s first integrated pulp and paper mill.”
Malaysia consumes about 380,000 tonnes of printing and writing paper annually, of which about 230,000 tonnes are imported, including from Thailand and Indonesia.
“With attractive incentives, our mill partners from the neighbouring countries will be more attracted to add on to, or shift, their operations to Malaysia, while SFI will certainly consider expansion plans to meet the present shortfall and the annual growing demand.
SFI’s production, he said, was set to increase to 180,000 tonnes a year within the next two years. The deputy Finance Minister said the Government would always hold a dialogue with the industry prior to formulating a policy or law.
“I encourage paper merchants to come together and invest in the industry so that we do not have to depend so much on imported paper, as imports can affect pricing,” he added.
He said the fluctuating oil prices had affected all industries, including the paper industry, making budgeting and purchasing difficult.


WORD LIST
1. mills
2. integrated
3. pulp
4. consumes
5. incentives
6. shift
7. consider
8. expansion
9. annual
10. demand
11. prior
12. formulating
13. invest
14. affect
15. budgeting

ENRICHMENT LIST
1. consumption
2. collaboration
3. graced
4. shortfall
5. fluctuating