Speciality Paper Manufacturing: Market Factors, Technology, and Consumer Interests by Dr. Ashok Kumar, ED – Pudumjee Paper

Speciality Paper Manufacturing: Market Factors, Technology, and Consumer Interests by Dr. Ashok Kumar, ED – Pudumjee Paper

Key Points:
“It may be relatively easy to buy the paper or coating machine but the technology part with regard to manufacturing of a given type of speciality papers may not be available with the suppliers or they will not easily give it” – Dr Ashok Kumar, Executive Director, Pudumjee paper products Limited
“Lot of work is going on to produce base papers and final products for higher barrier applications in the emerging market”
“The machines are very specialised and the chemistry part with respect to chemical formulations etc is a well guarded secret for a given type of papers and applications”

As The Pulp and Paper Times marks its 10th anniversary, we celebrate a decade of meaningful and industry-focused journalism.

Over the past decade, we have established ourselves as a trusted voice of the pulp and paper sector, connecting paper mills, industry leaders, technology providers, and global stakeholders. With a strong readership base across India and overseas, our platform has consistently delivered credible insights, market intelligence, and exclusive industry interactions that support informed decision-making.

On this special milestone, we talked to Dr. Ashok Kumar, ED – Pudumjee Paper Products Limited, about his perspective on the future of the paper business. We shared our theme, “Market Factors, Technology, and Consumer Interests Shaping the Indian Pulp and Paper Industry in the Next 10 Years.” We received very informative and deeply insightful views that everyone associated with the paper industry, in any capacity, should read. Here are a few insights.

The Pulp and Paper Times

MARKET FACTORS

The Speciality paper market offers several grades of papers for diversified applications. Those who are not much familiar with the subject may think it as a segment with limited paper grades. Due to space constraints, it is not possible to list various grades and applications here but one can find out this information from the internet which may come as a pleasant surprise to many to find such a vast range of speciality papers and their applications. A brief mention of the paper grades and their applications is : Food packaging and service papers such as Greaseproof paper, silicone coated baking paper also known as parchment paper, and several other grades to handle hot food and provide heat resistance and enhance shelf life; Medical and Healthcare segment offering medical label papers, sterilization wraps, surgical paper and release liners for adhesive bandages for hygiene and sterile packaging; Industrial and Technical segment that includes barrier papers for construction, abrasive papers, electrical insulating papers etc; Decorative and Overlay segment offering a big list of Titanium Di-oxide printed and non printed papers; Papers for Security and anti counterfeiting such as bank notes, passports and for many other authentication certificates; Automative filter papers; Release Liners representing a big market for various applications; Thermal paper segment; Tea bags; Luxury packaging papers; extensible or Stretchable papers etc. This is a part of a larger list and has been mentioned here just to give an idea of this segment. 

There are many large and modern mills all over the world which are manufacturing these speciality papers. There is a long list of such speciality paper mills and only few are mentioned here : Stora Enso in Finland and Sweden, Ahlstrom, Nippon paper Industries Japan, Koehler Germany, Fedrigoni Italy, Nine Dragons China, Oji Holdings corporation Japan, Mitsubishi Japan, Mondi Group in UK, South Africa and Austria and many others. In India, traditionally there are two major mills manufacturing speciality base papers – Pudumjee and ITC.. Some other mills mainly after COVID-19 and also due to pressure in the traditional writing & printing papers segment have started producing some speciality paper grades which are on an increasing trend now. After COVID-19 and due to initiatives taken by various agencies, there has been lot of interest worldwide to find out replacement of plastic based packaging products. There are many converters in the country who have been traditionally converting plastics into various products for packaging and many of them have now started using paper based products and have modified their converting machinery to make them suitable for paper and paper boards. This has helped many mills to start manufacturing substitute of these packaging products and in India both as base papers by paper mills and converted products by the converters along with brand owners. The main applications of speciality paper based products in India are limited for paper bags, paper cups, paper straws and moulded fibre products with oil and greaseproof barrier properties. Lot of work is going on to produce base papers and final products for higher barrier applications in the emerging market.

As explained above, the growth in this segment is robust but any forecast is deliberately not given here. The forecast by many individuals/agencies available in print and social media differ a lot but it is certain that the growth in speciality paper segment will be more than others. If one reads any article about Indian paper industry in any magazine or social media platform, Few sentences are common for all type of mills – small, medium or big. These are : We are the most environmentally responsible mill in the country; We have the state of the art machine and most advanced and state of the art paper machine; Our focus is on speciality papers manufacturing; Our product are most sustainable etc. 

Being a traditional manufacturer of speciality base papers in India for a very long time, Pudumjee Paper Products Ltd (PPPL) as a company is well positioned to provide speciality papers for a diverse range of applications and spending lot of resources in R&D with inhouse expertise as well as collaborating with overseas experts.

The speciality paper market has positive outlook and there is a scope for all concerned – be it base paper manufacturers, traders, converters, speciality paper making chemicals suppliers and brand owners. There is a lot to be done for developing high barrier papers which will be possible only by collaborative efforts between paper mills, Chemical suppliers, Technology suppliers, Converting machinery manufacturers and Brand owners. India has a very diversified market in respect of quality and there is scope for all kinds of players. It all depends how one would like to position his/her brand in the market.

TECHNOLOGY OF SPECIALITY PAPER MANUFACTURING

For some applications, the technology is now available in India but truly speaking, the hard core technology is available mainly in Europe as there are many big, old and established paper companies manufacturing and marketing speciality papers all over the world. The right technology is not easily available and very expensive for most applications. The machines are very specialised and the chemistry part with respect to chemical formulations etc is a well guarded secret for a given type of papers and applications.

It may be relatively easy to buy the paper or coating machine but the technology part with regard to manufacturing of a given type of speciality papers may not be available with the suppliers or they will not easily give it. There is also a challenge of finding suitable market in India for the full capacity of the machine particularly in the beginning and first couple of years may be difficult to justify the investment. The export market initially will be a major challenge to compete with already established European and other suppliers. It is, therefore, important to select the right machine configuration, product mix and the machine production capacity to justify the investment. There are some free lancers available in Europe who were earlier working with some reputed speciality paper companies and now retired. Their association to develop suitable paper grades and help in stabilising the machine will be helpful in the beginning.

CONSUMER INTERESTS

Indian consumers are now well aware of the environmental issues faced by the plastic based packaging, thanks to the social media and internet on which Indians spend lot of time. They are willing to explore the paper based packaging products. But as mentioned earlier, India is a very diversified country in all respect and same is the case about this issue. There is seriousness at some levels while there is a large percentage of population where this awareness still has to reach and percolate down. Whatever may be the case, most people want paper based packaging products which are at par in price with plastic based products which is presently not possible, particularly the pricing, in all cases except few applications. The truth is that even those who are knowledgeable and well to do with respect to affordability are not willing to pay the price for paper based quality products. One such example is Oil and Greaseproof papers (OGR) papers. Many type of OGR papers are now available in India with a wide range of quality being poor to very good in terms of grease resistance and use of environmentally friendly OGR Chemicals. Normal consumer will not understand the real difference . It is, therefore, the responsibility of brand owners (For branded products) to source papers from responsible manufacturers who use Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) in their operations and have all necessary certifications for OGR papers.

Finally, consumer interests will shape the future of Speciality paper Manufacturing Segment of paper industry as there will be demand for environmentally responsible and sustainable products in Food and Beverage segments, Hygiene, Medical care, safety related products and many other industrial applications. The future is encouraging for those companies who would like to establish themselves in this segment for which Good Manufacturing practices, self audit discipline and compliance with honesty is important as it will take time before statutory compliance system and processes are developed to safeguard the consumer interests.

In the end, it is important to understand and appreciate that there is market of all types of materials including plastic based packaging. It is a big challenge to replace plastic based products in all applications as the they are cheaper and have inherent quality of natural barrier resistance which is superior to paper for some applications.

Though it is not directly related to this subject but is important to mention an important part of the whole scenario. Somehow, our habits of littering is too bad. Though lot of improvement is noticed in some cities due to initiatives by the Govt and respective municipal corporations but the conditions in so called “No Man’s Land” i.e roads and streets is very bad. If one travels on any road – be it national highway, state highway, city road, village road or whatever, there is all kinds of littering on both sides all along the road. This includes everything – Household garbage, medical waste, industrial waste, used and waste clothes, food wastage, all kind of plastic waste and what not. Most people have found it convenient to throw their garbage and waste of all types by the roadside at a convenient time when they are not seen or caught. There would not be such a condition anywhere else in the world. Where are the concerned agencies and bodies whose responsibility is to ensure that there should be no littering anywhere including the roadside?

There has been no improvement even after so much of awareness being created by various Govt agencies, NGOs and many other organisations through paid advertisements spending lot of money. Is cleanliness a fashion statement or photo session by most individuals and organisations? Where and why have we failed as a society? We as citizens have responsibility to keep our area of work and surroundings whether at home or anywhere else neat and clean. If this situation does not improve, any kind of efforts in developing paper based packaging solutions will have only limited impact.
 

Published at : Jul 31, 2026 08:42 AM (IST)

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