Gov't bans waste paper export for 3 months

When answering questions at the Legislative Yuan about rising prices for waste paper, Wu said overseas shipments will be halted as enterprises in Taiwan need domestically generated waste paper.

One lawmaker blamed the government's policy of allowing continuing export of waste paper to China for the recent price spiral.

Wu said the waste paper will be supplied to local companies as a priority and the three-month export ban can be extended depending on the supply condition on the market three months later.

He has also instructed the Fair Trade Commission under the Cabinet to conduct a market investigation to determine if there are artificial manipulation of price movements.

Executives at Cheng Loong Corp., a leading paper manufacturer in Taiwan, said the company procures 70 percent of domestic waste paper on the island for its production of industrial paper and relies on imports for only 30 percent of corporate needs.

They pointed out that waste paper prices have shot up on the international markets. The price for imports from the U.S. has now increased to around US$285 per metric ton, doubling from about US$140 a ton in April last year.

For the Taiwan market, the peak season for industrial paper falls between April and August due to increasing demand for paper containers for summer time beverages, farm produce, and food items, they said.

Some major waste paper recycling firms said they prefer to sell waste paper materials they have collected to domestic paper mills for reprocessing into cardboard paper to save the hassle of customs clearance procedure and booking ships plus insurance and freight costs involving export trade.

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