The conflict between Russia and Ukraine for many months has had a serious impact on India’s paper import, and overseas shipment takes two months. The news agency IANS quoted Indian industry sources as saying that the average price of Indian paper rose 42.8% due to the supply delay. They also added that China’s epidemic control has further exacerbated the rise in Indian paper prices.

An Indian industry representative said that before the start of the Russian Ukrainian conflict in February, the average price of Indian paper was 70000 rupees per ton, which has now risen to 1,00000 rupees per ton.

It is worth noting that India’s paper making mainly depends on imports. Whether it is newsprint for printing newspapers or cultural paper for printing books, these products mainly come from China and several European countries.

The production director of a well-known publishing company was quoted as saying that since the beginning of geopolitical tensions, orders for both types of paper have been hit. He said: Up to now, the foreign paper supply has been delayed for about two months, leading to the increase of production costs and raw material costs. IANS quoted an official as saying that orders for October can only be completed in December. He added that due to the delay in the supply of paper, publishers could not determine the price of books. Once the new school season comes early next year, the demand for books will rise, and this gap between supply and demand is expected to further expand.

Although some paper can be produced in India, the pulp raw materials needed for production still need to be imported from abroad, and the import cost is getting higher and higher. India may continue to face the crisis of paper shortage for some time. In addition, the report added that China is the main supplier of cultural paper in India. Due to China’s epidemic control, China’s shipments declined, which also led to the supply gap in India.