Kraft paper is paper produced from chemical pulp produced in the kraft process. Sack kraft paper, or just sack paper, is a porous kraft paper with high elasticity and high tear resistance, designed for packaging products with high demands for strength and durability. Pulp produced by the kraft process is stronger than that made by other pulping processes; acidic sulfite processes degrade cellulose more, leading to weaker fibers, and mechanical pulping processes leave most of the lignin with the fibers, whereas kraft pulping removes most of the lignin present originally in the wood.
Paper is one of the core industries and is linked to the basic human needs. Paper is the pre-requisite for education and literacy and its use is an index of advancement in these two fields as well as the overall well-being of the society. Paper and paper board can be manufactured by using different types of raw materials. Raw materials account for 45-50 per cent of the total cost of production and form an important segment of manufacturing paper and paper board. Of the total installed capacity, 43 per cent is dependent on forest based raw materials, 28 per cent on agro based raw materials and the remaining 29 per cent on other materials including waste paper.
Indian Paper Industry which is over 100 years old, was saddled with many constraints, not of its own making, which have prevented it from growing to its full stature. Of late, due to spurt in demand for paper in the context of availability of good raw materials modernization efforts are being undertaken. Profitable margins being good, it has shown good signs of progress. Paper is designated as a core industry. India’s per capita consumption is a meagre 2.9 kg against 334 kg in U.S., 224 kg in Japan and 134 kg in Taiwan. Even within the Asian bloc, China has an impressive 12 kg per capita; the Philippines 8.5 kg and Thailand 17 kg, Malaysia (31), Korea (80), New Zealand (150), Singapore (80), Hong Kong (140), Australia (150) are other countries in the Asia-Pacific region which are significantly ahead in paper consumption.
The world consumption of paper and paperboard is estimated at over 300 mntonne a year. It is constituted broadly of 30% of cultural papers (writing and printing), 14% of newsprint, and the balance of kraft and packaging paper including paperboards. The Indian production is about 2 to 3% of the global total. The overall value of the market is estimated at Rs. 250 bn. In volume terms, the segment is presently estimated at over 6.9 mntonne.
In India, the cultural varieties account for over 40% of the production and speciality papers including coated papers for about 8%. This leaves about less than half for kraft and boards if the newsprint varieties are excluded. The newsprint takes over a mntonne or about 15% of the total.
The present demand is estimated at 13.1 million tonnes with domestic production of 11.4 million tonnes, export of 0.5 million tonnes and import of 2.2 million tonnes. The demand is projected to boost to 23.5 million tonnes by 2024- 25. India is the greatest growing market for paper in the world with a growth rate of about 6 percent yearly. The increase of per capita paper utilization by one kg will raise the demand by about 1.25 million tonnes per annum.
India has become self-sufficient in paper except for special varieties such as high quality bond paper and newsprint. The industry has progressed in the sense that dependence on wood-based raw material has come down to approximately 40%. Bagasse (about 33%) and waste paper (over 27%) now constitute more than 60% of the raw material base.
Thus, the overall market prospectus for paper products appears to be good and the demand for industrial paper is expected to grow at faster rate than general paper industries growth. A Greenfield project based on wood pulp with a capacity of 100,000 tonne is estimated to require about Rs. 10 bn of capital expenditure. The paper industry depends on farmers for sourcing raw materials, and requires about 2 MN ha from the countries 32 MN hectares of degraded forests. The real worry to domestic production is that 70% of global recycled paper is being shipped in by Chinese companies.
Few Indian major players are as under
Achal Paper Inds. Ltd.
Agrashakti Paper Mills Pvt. Ltd.
Aryan Paper Mills Ltd.
Bazargaon Paper & Pulp Mills Pvt. Ltd.
Best Paper Mills Pvt. Ltd.
Dev Priya Papers Pvt. Ltd.
Fiesta Papers Pvt. Ltd.
