I hope the start of the coming new year is auspicious and brings joy to us all, after a turbulent & volatile
2020, which started with series of lock-downs and is leaving us with 40% price rise in raw material cost and now the challenge of not being able to get the commensurate price increase from customers!!
The quantum of the price hikes this year is indeed unprecedented and seen for the first time in the history of our Industry in India, of over five decades. There seems to be a structural change happening in the dynamics of waste paper market, world-wide, compounded by the massive disruptions in international logistics, due to the staggered lock-downs, all over.
Besides this, the input costs of all components that go into the conversion cost, have also risen exponentially, in the recent past. So we all, as an Industry, need to push for and claim higher conversion costs from the buyers. It is only right & fair, as we need to cover our increased input costs and also make a respectable margin so as to sustain our working and to re-invest in our growth.
I was deeply contemplating what message to share, in these challenging times, with all my contemporaries, colleagues & Association members; and then hit upon some famous quotes by Mahatma Gandhi’s, which resonated with me and I found them to be most pertinent to the situation confronting us all;
- Without action you aren’t going anywhere.
- First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.
I think these two quotes perfectly sum-up the current situation the corrugated manufacturers are confronted with today.
- Many of our fraternity members feel that no action is going to bring them results. Friends, no action no results.
- Customers are ignoring us when it comes to price increase and making us engage in unhealthy competition. We have to persevere in our push, to achieve our desired goal.
Let us all be aware that no Santa is coming and fill up our stockings this Christmas!! We all need to help ourselves to be able to be sustainable. We cannot make losses willingly and jeopardise the very existence of our units! Vide this note, I would like to implore all our members to understand that we all have a commitment to all stakeholders including our customers. We have to protect & honour our commitments to other stakeholders too, namely, our employees, financial institutions, the Government, the Service providers, our suppliers and most importantly our family, friends and our own selves.
I therefore urge all members to kindly introspect deeply and ensure sustainability & viability of our businesses, going forward.
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