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Paper and Paper Products

The Philippine paper industry is a multi-billion-person sector that has made a significant contribution to the socio-economic development of the country. Abaca pulp, virgin pulp are the most prominent. Major grades of manufactured papers in the country are mostly derived from recycled waste paper, and these products come in the form of newsprint, printing and writing paper, tissue, container board, and other packaging paper and boards

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95-100% recycled fiber content

Almost all grades produced in the Philippines have a recycled fiber content of 95-100%, compared to the minimum recycled content of 25-35% implemented in developed countries.

Source: DTI & BOI

Over 6,000 industry skilled workers

The local paper industry directly employs about 6,000 personnel, mostly skilled workers and technical professionals.

Source: DTI & BOI

PHP24.52 Billion gross value

The gross value added generated from the manufacturing of paper and paper products in the Philippines amounted to 24.62 billion Philippine pesos.

Source: Statista

The paper industry is small compared to its Asian counterparts but is a multi-billion peso sector that has made a significant contribution to the socio-economic development of the country [87].

The local paper industry directly employs about 6,000 personnel, mostly skilled workers and technical professionals, and contributes value to the economy by sustaining the livelihood opportunities of about 1.2 million workers in the waste paper collection, sorting, and hauling sub-sectors [87].

The Philippines has twenty-four (24) non-integrated paper mills with a total production capacity of 1.3 million tons of paper and paperboard per year, as well as four (4) abaca pulp mills exporting 25,000 tons of specialty non-wood pulp per year. Major grades of manufactured papers in the country are mostly derived from recycled waste paper, and these products come in the form of newsprint, printing and writing paper, tissue, container board, and other packaging paper and boards [88].

The paper mills manufacture paper products including writing and printing paper, tissue, cartons, paper bags, and brown packaging paper. These products are produced primarily using imported virgin pulp and waste paper [88].

Abaca pulp can be used to manufacture paper money, tea bags and other paper products. However, the country does not benefit from these as their products are mainly for export. Nearly two-thirds of the total amount of the abaca pulp manufactured in the country is exported to Europe [87][89].

The packaging industry, a downstream sector of the paper industry, is critical to the export sector since high-quality and sophisticated packaging is a requirement for success in the global market. In the production of corrugated boxes, paper sack, paper bags and carton boxes, the packaging sector uses linerboard and fluting medium, multi-ply paperboard, sack kraft, and bag paper as component materials. Improving the paper industry as a source of packaging inputs for exporters translates to better competitiveness of Philippine exports. Upstream, the paper industry is linked to the recycling sector, from where most of the fiber raw materials are sourced by the country’s non-integrated paper mills [87].

Almost all grades produced in the Philippines have a recycled fiber content of 95-100%, compared to the minimum recycled content of 25-35% implemented in developed countries. By being a market of about 1 million tons of waste paper per year, the paper industry provides strong support to the country’s solid waste management efforts. Consequently, it provides thousands of indirect jobs for garbage collectors, junk recyclers, sorters, haulers, and other workers in the country’s marginalized sectors [88].

Opportunities and
advantages

The pulp and paper industry contributes about ₱30 billion per year in domestic sales value to the economy, or saves the country $700 million per year in foreign exchange from imported paper and board [88].
In 2019, ₱26 billion of the total value of paper were produced in the Philippines. On the other hand, its imports increased to ₱71.2 billion in 2019, almost seven times higher than the ₱10.4 billion recorded in 2005 [90].
The revenue of manufacture of paper and paper products in the Philippines will amount to approximately 2.1 billion U.S. Dollars by 2024 [91].
The raw material sourcing of the paper industry in the Philippines is currently linked to virgin pulp production and forestry operations of pulp producing countries like Indonesia, New Zealand, Europe, and North and South America [87].
Local companies use recycled waste paper in producing paper products due to the absence of technology to manufacture virgin pulp. There are around 80 processing plants in the country with the capacity to convert waste paper [87].
Most industry sub-sectors, particularly exports of electronics, fruits, handicrafts, garments and furniture, as well as local production of processed food and consumer goods, rely significantly on locally-manufactured and imported paper and board as packaging materials [92].
The paper industry is also vertically linked (albeit indirectly) to the forestry and commercial tree plantation sectors, as well as to agricultural sub-sectors producing by-product fibers and annual crops, for its requirement of virgin pulp [87].
Other opportunities for the paper and paper products industry are large domestic market and growing at 2% annually, availability of abaca for pulp, use of abaca in local production of security paper and reinforcing fiber for recycled papers, existence of technical support facility, standards, local expertise and technologies, availability of education for pulp and paper manufacturing, environmental management systems in place in various mills, growing paper and board demand in both local and export markets, the Philippine climate is best for growing hardwood tree species in short-cycle and environmentally sustainable forest plantations, available land resource for pulpwood plantation development, utilization of other non-wood species and agricultural wastes as source of fiber and growing demand for recyclable, biodegradable, and renewable materials [87].

New Product Opportunities

Other carbon paper

HS Code

4816 HS4

Featured Companies

United Pulp and Paper Co., Inc (UPPC) is the Philippines’ leading manufacturer of high-quality and cost-efficient industrial grade paper used for corrugated packaging products for the domestic and export market. UPPC is a subsidiary of SCG Packaging, Thailand’s largest packaging solutions provider under the conglomerate Siam Cement Group (SCG). UPPC is the first Philippine manufacturer of industrial paper to achieve ISO 9001 Certification, which attests to its commitment to global manufacturing standards. It is located in Calumpit, Bulacan with 400 employees. The company uses 100% recycled paper to produce various grades of testliner board and corrugating medium used in carton packaging products. Their testliner board grades feature consistency and meet accurate RCT standards. It is an Environmentally Preferable Product as certified by Green Choice Philippines. It follows international color/shade suitable for both domestic and export market requirements. Their corrugating medium features stacking strength and impact protection performance for the corrugated boxes [93].

Newtech Pulp Inc. Newtech Pulp Inc. in Lanao del Norte, a subsidiary of US-based multinational company Glatfelter. Among Glatfelter’s major clients is Unilever, a Europe-based company which owns Lipton Tea. The company is located in Baloi, Lanao Del Norte with more than a hundred employees. Newtech Pulp, Inc. was founded in 1970. The company manufactures and sells pulp made from recycled paper, such as recycled industrial chemicals and recycled nonferrous metals. It is also engaged in the manufacture of pulp for building materials, such as insulation materials, drainage materials, and interior materials. They also manufacture and sell papermaking raw materials [94][95].

Advance Paper Corporation Advance Paper Corporation (APC) is one of the largest paper product companies in the Philippines. Its core business is manufacturing, printing, and distribution of paper products for printers, school and office use. It started in 1981 as a small backyard operation manufacturing ruled paper products and notebooks. It later on evolved into a multi-company enterprise, managing a chain of branded products that are highly visible in the market today. Its strongest legacy is the variety of brands that includes copier papers, ruled pads, envelopes, thermal and fax papers, filing folders and envelopes. The latest addition to their products are the brown paper bags. The company stayed as the market leader that is trusted by millions of customers for its high quality and great value products. Aside from the consumer products, it also expanded into computer forms, offset, and check printing that catered to various industries such as telecoms, banks, insurance and electricity companies. Today, Advance Paper is supported by extensive regional distributors, paper dealers, bookstores and chains nationwide. Advance strongest legacy today is the strength of its brands, many of which have been part of the Filipino people for three decades. These include a variety of brands of notebooks (Advance, Topline and Springleaf), copier paper (Advance and Hard Copy), ruled pads (Easywrite), filing products (Advance, A-plus). Trusted by millions of consumers, these brands remain the market leader in their specific category [96].

Triplex Enterprises, Inc. Triplex Enterprises, Inc., is among the top paper converters in the Philippines, with facilities located in Makati & Paranaque with over 200 employees. The company was established in 1972. They specialize in paper converting, roll slitting, rewinding, sheeting, and cutting. With 48 years of paper trading & converting experience, they import & convert various grades of paper & paper board for industrial, packaging, education, food service, consumer products, advertising, etc. The company’s lines of paper & paperboard include C2S paper/board, matt coated paper/board, clay coated, foldcote, carrier board, book paper, newsprint, kraft paper/board, greaseproof, parchment, onion skin, carbonless paper, copy paper, bond paper, etc. The company carries copy paper brands such as Cactus, Copimax, Emerson, Triplex, Bamboo, among others [97].