Indian paper manufacturing companies zoom ahead

• During the month of July, prices for creamwove writing paper at Rs 41,000 a tonne and maplitho printing paper at Rs 52,205 a tonne, had notched up about five and nine% on a yearly basis.
• The earthquake at a major pulp producer in Chile had shot the price of key input pulp from $500 a tonne to $1,000 a tonne. Currently, it is at $700
• There is an estimation of a seven% annual growth for paper and paperboard demand from 7.9 million tonnes to 10.4 million tonnes from 2009-10 to 2013-14.

CURRENT MARKET STANDINGS: For a few Indian paper manufacturing companies

• A four per cent rise in the BSE Sensex has made the stocks of major paper companies rise by 26-66% since March month ending.
• Ballarpur Industries: Reported a 76% rise in net profit for the June quarter with reported net sales of Rs 1,077 crores and the net profit standing at Rs 65 crores. This reflects the benefit from the recent increase in capacity of wood-free paper from 1,25,000 tonnes to 3,15,000 tonnes (commercial production started in the second half of 2009-10).
• JK Paper: Has embarked on a Rs 1,500-crore expansion plan, which according to the company will help it expand its production capacity from the current 2,40,000 tonnes to 3,60,000 tonnes over the next two years. JK Paper holds about 40% market share and is expected to grow at about 12%-14% over the next two years.
• Tamil Nadu Newsprint & Papers (TNPL): One of the leading players in the domestic newsprint sector and has been increasing its annual paper capacity from 2,45,000 tonnes to touch 4,00,000 tonne by September 2010. Analysts are expecting the company's revenue and earnings to grow 18-20 per cent annually over the next two years.
• West Coast Paper Mills: The focus centres around high-quality writing and printing paper, where demand is expected to grow by 14%-16% over the next few years. The company recently completed expansion of its production capacity from 1,80,000 to 3,15,000 tonnes. Led by expanded capacity and improved margins, the analyst, expects West Coast's profits to double during the current year and grow by 20%-25% during the next year.
  

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