TIRUPPUR: Due to a hike in raw material prices, the manufacturers of corrugated boxes have decided to increase the price of carton boxes used for packing goods by 15 per cent.
R Sivakumar, president of the South India Corrugated Box Manufacturers’ Association (SICBMA), Coimbatore chapter, told TNIE, “In India, corrugated boxes play an important role in packing. Lightweight products are mostly packed in these boxes and transported. Textile products produced in Coimbatore, Tiruppur, Karur, and Erode districts are mostly packed in these boxes. In particular, knitwear produced in Tiruppur is exported through these boxes.”
He added, “As for our business, we procure Kraft paper from paper mills and manufacture the corrugated boxes. Paper mills manufacture Kraft paper by importing raw materials from foreign countries. In this case, the Kraft paper used for the manufacturing boxes differs based on the Bursting Factor (BF) and BF is a measure of how much pressure Kraft paper can withstand before it ruptures.
A higher BF means the paper is stronger and more resilient. In this, we are using Kraft paper with numbers ranging from 12 BF to 28 B. In this context, the paper mills have drastically increased the price of Kraft paper in the last month and this has affected us severely.”
“For example 12 BF Kraft paper was Rs 29,000 a tonne a month ago. Now its price has gone up to Rs 32,000. A 28 BF Kraft paper price has increased to 53,000 from 50,000 per tonne. Due to this, we are forced to increase the price of the boxes price as well. So, we have decided to increase its price by 15 per cent. This applies to the entire state and it is going to be effective from Monday.”
P Dhandapani, association vice president, said, “We are implementing this price hike to prevent losses to corrugated box manufacturers. The cost will vary according to its size. For example, this price hike will increase the price of a box worth Rs 100 to Rs 115. This will affect those who buy boxes in bulk.”
He added, “Districts like Coimbatore, Tiruppur, Nilgiris, Erode, Namakkal, Karur, etc, will come under it as there are around 400 corrugated box manufacturers in these districts alone.”
Manufacturers said, “Our power tariff, building rent, transport charges, and container charges have also gone up. So the state government should give us a concession on the power tariff. The central government should provide tax relaxations.”