A trade association representing the paper industry in Vietnam has asked its government to ban the export of recycled pulp.
The Vietnam Pulp & Paper Association (VPPA) is concerned that investment may be made in facilities to recycle paper into pulp, but not into the finished product.
Instead, it fears that the pulp will be exported to countries such as China to be turned into a finished recycled paper.
As a result, it has called for a ban on exporting pulp from Vietnam.
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While the organisation has welcomed the investment of Chinese mill groups such as Nine Dragons and Lee & Man that have built paper mills in the country, it is concerned that the ban on imports of mixed paper and tougher restrictions on other grades will lead to other Chinese companies building pulp facilities in the country.
According to the VN Express International newspaper, the VPPA has sent a letter to the Vietnam Ministry of Industry and Trade calling for the ban.
In the letter, the VPPA said that joint venture invitations were being sent out by Vietnamese businesses to Chinese paper mills asking them to set up paper pulp facilities.
It warned that these operations would “leave very bad impacts on and pose a lot of threats to Vietnamese paper producers” because the opportunity to create more valuable finished products in Vietnam would be lost.
The letter added that this would mean Vietnam would be left with the waste products, but would not benefit from the value of the finished paper.
