Vietnam to Import More Packaging Paper By 2010

Vietnam to import more packaging paper by 2010

HANOI, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) — Vietnam is estimated to import some one million tons of packaging paper in 2010, up from 700,000 tons in 2006, the Vietnam Pulp and Paper Association said on Tuesday.

Regarding paper used to package cement, the country will import some 35,000 tons this year, up from nearly 33,600 tons lastyear, the association said, noting that the volume will increase sharply by 2010.

Lee and Man Paper Manufacturing Ltd from China’s Hong Kong is building a pulp and paper plant in southern Hau Giang province. Once completed, scheduled in October 2008, the plant will annuallyturn out 330,000 tons of pulp, key material for paper production, and 420,000 tons of paper, the association said.

Vietnam currently has some 300 paper makers, and a few pulp producers whose production meets only 37 percent of the domestic demand for pulp. The country has to import 130,000-150,000 tons ofthe material each year.

This year, Vietnam is predicted to manufacture 1.13 million tons of paper of different kinds, including letter, printing and packaging paper, and import of 914,500 tons of paper, according tothe Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Vietnam imported 688,000 tons of paper worth 491 million U.S. dollars in the first 10 months of this year, posting respective year- on-year rises of 16.3 percent and 23.5 percent, said the association.

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