Traditional Paper Manufacturing Factory Karnaphuli Paper Mill (KPM) This once popular factory is about 70 years old and is now completely closed due to poor machinery, institutional indecisiveness, pulp crisis etc. The last bit of production from the old paper was last August. A load of three thousand tons of unsold paper still awaits at the storehouse. Even during the extreme paper shortage in the country, these papers suitable for printing textbooks are not being used. The company is trying to set up a new plant to turn around.
The Karnaphuli mill authorities say that the old machinery is on the verge of becoming useless. Many machines have become useless. Therefore, initiatives have been taken to set up a new plant within the current establishment of the mill. Feasibility study for setting up new plant is underway. The feasibility study report is expected to be submitted by this December.
Engineer Swapan Kumar Sarker, Managing Director of Karnaphuli Paper Mill said, our plant is very old. Moreover, there is a shortage of pulp. Pulp has not been available from domestic sources for several years. It has also become difficult to import from abroad. Recently, the price of pulp in the international market has increased a lot. That is why the plant is closed now.
He said that the process of setting up a new plant at KPM has started. Since KPM is a very old mill, we are giving priority to installing the new mill.
KPM gradually turned into a loss-making company for more than two centuries. In order to avoid the crisis from the last few years, the government directed to buy all types of government paper from KPM. The National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) procured all the papers for their books from KPM. Every year NCTB used to get 250 to 3000 tonnes of paper from Karnaphuli. KPM manufactures about 5 thousand tons of paper without order to supply required paper to NCTB. NCTB orders 1000 tonnes of paper in 2020-21 financial year. NCTB stopped paper orders in the next two financial years. Due to which KPM is currently in trouble with about 3 thousand tons of paper.
The workers of the mill said that bamboo is produced locally in its own well area as the raw material of the mill. One ton of pulp is made from 4 tons of bamboo. Production of paper from bamboo used to cost 18-20 thousand taka per tonnes.
KPM stopped producing paper using bamboo and pulpwood as raw materials extracted from its wells due to various problems in 2017.
In this, their own chemical plant (CC plant) was also closed. The production cost of paper increases manifold due to stop harvesting bamboo and pulpwood and use old paper and imported pulp.
Moreover, the suppliers failed to provide the supply even after tendering the work order for the supply of foreign pulp. KPM is not getting a new supplier due to the lack of funds even though a new tender has been called. In the last financial year, three rounds of tenders were called for the import of pulp, but no one participated in the tenders. As a result, the production of the factory stopped due to lack of pulp.
The workers said that many valuable machines are also becoming useless due to the closure of their pulp making plants.
According to KPM authorities, there are currently more than 220 permanent workers and officials at Karnaphuli Paper Mill. The temporary work force is more than 350 people. At present, the monthly expenses of the institution including the salaries of the officers-employees-labourers are more than Tk 5 crore.
BCIC has taken initiative to set up a new factory in place of KPM factory. Meanwhile, KPM has signed a memorandum of understanding with M/s China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation (CMC), China. Besides, an organization is working to verify the technical and financial feasibility of setting up KPM and paper-based chemical plants.
The new factories include forestry with integrated paper mills, soda ash plants, sodium sulphate plants, basic chemical plants (caustic soda, chlorine, hydrogen peroxide, bleaching earth, titanium dioxide, hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, phosphoric acid etc.) and synthetic polyester fibre.
KPM officials said that Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation established Karnaphuli Paper Mill Limited at Chandraghona of Kaptai Upazila of Rangamati District in 1953. The mill was initially set up with the cooperation of America, England, Germany, Sweden and Italy and loan assistance from the World Bank.
The annual production target of the factory was 30 thousand metric tons. Commercial production began on 16 October 1953. At that time almost full paper requirement of East and West Pakistan was supplied from Karnaphuli paper mill. Later, due to management complications, the mill was sold to the Dawood Group by the Government of Pakistan in 1964. The company modernized the mill.
When Bangladesh became independent in 1971, the Bangladesh Industrial Development Corporation acquired the Karnaphuli Paper Mill. Even in 1990-91, Karnaphuli Paper Mill had an annual production capacity of 30 thousand tonnes. The paper produced by Karnaphuli Paper Mill is also very popular in Bangladesh. However, KPM fell behind in the competition when private paper mills were established and paper imports started in the country in the last two years. The crisis was created in a large state-owned paper mill. The chemical plant at Karnaphuli Paper Mill was closed in 2016.
The raw material was made at KPM with bamboo and pulpwood (soft wood) collected from its own sources. Paper was made from that pulp. Karnaphuli Paper Mill is capable of producing writing paper, printing paper, corrugated board, wax coated paper, adhesive tape and bitumen paper.
The KPM official said that the papers were specially prepared for NCTB. These papers are not used much in other institutions. Because of these reasons it is not easy to sell. Production of the factory has stopped due to the pulp crisis. Pulp crisis in the current international market. Due to which our factory is also in crisis. About 3,000 tonnes of paper produced in the last three years remain unsold. At present, the salaries and allowances of the factory employees are being paid with loans from BCIC.
