Since March 2020, prices of all types of papers have risen steadily, but it is still 2-3 percent lower than pre-COVID levels.

AS Mehta, President and Director of JK Paper, in an interview with CNBC-TV18 said prices of writing and printing paper is also not at pre-COVID levels despite the price rise. Office paper prices have also risen by 4-5 percent, but nowhere near close to the pre-COVID levels, he added.

“The office paper, for which we are a major player in the market, prices have moved up by 4-5 percent. There was a drop in the paper prices by 7-8 percent in this category from the pre-COVID levels. So we have gone back to broadly pre-COVID levels, but still, it is lower than pre-COVID levels,” he said.

“As far as the writing and printing paper is concerned, the price drop was substantial. The price drop was somewhere around 18-20 percent from the pre-COVID level during the initial phase of the pandemic. The prices have moved up and the increase is somewhere around 12-15 percent for different variety and sizes. Still, it is not pre-COVID levels,” Mehta explained.

The packaging board prices and coated paper prices are more or less at pre-COVID levels, he added.

However, he said that the second wave of COVID could be a dampener. “The second wave, what we are seeing now, if still there is some kind of apprehension on the opening of the educational institution, there may be dampening of demand of writing and printing paper,” he said.

Watch the video for more.

(Edited by : Yashi Gupta)