How the war in Ukraine created a crisis for the Indian press/newspaper Industries.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine left many unpredictable consequences. One of the lesser known is that imported newsprint - which has your favorite newspaper printed on it - has almost disappeared from the market, making it difficult for Indian newspapers to source. .

But why should it be? For one thing, Russia accounts for nearly
5% of India's newsprint imports. Due to the conflict in Ukraine, several major global shipping lines have stopped placing orders to and from Russian ports, creating a bottleneck there. Sanctions on Russian banks are expected to make trading more difficult. Another consequence is world energy prices (natural gas, coal) skyrocketing, accounting for nearly 30% of the cost of newsprint production of paper mills.

The crisis in Russia is the latest in a series of blows that have rocked foreign newsprint exporters in rapid succession, almost like a perfect storm. Workers are on strike at UPM, a major Finnish newsprint mill that has accounted for nearly 60% of India's imported glossy newsprint since January. In February, Canadian truckers went on strike over vaccination duties, destroying vital supply chains (Canada typically accounts for
0% of India's imported newsprint).

Impact of Covid -

The Covid pandemic has devastated many industries and economies around the world, and the newsprint industry is no exception. The global supply chain has suffered logistical disruptions for more than two years now as cargo containers are not available and ports are congested due to staffing and ongoing outages due to related issues. Covid19. As a result, retailers were left with empty shelves and factories were forced to close temporarily because they did not have components in stock. From a total global capacity of 23.8 million tonnes in 2017, this will be halved in 2022 to just 13.6 million tonnes.