A 30 to 40 percent increase in waste newspaper prices in India during the first quarter, as well as pressure from rising costs of pulp, coal and power is weighing on newsprint producers, the Business Standard reported Tuesday.

Manufacturers, who recycle waste newspaper to make newsprint, predict input costs will soften before the next review of prices in September.

V D Bajaj, executive director at Rama Newsprint and Papers (RNPL), which uses 180,000 tonnes of waste newspaper a year (half is imported), said waste newspaper prices have risen from Rs 7,000-8,000 a tonne in the previous quarter, to Rs 11,000-12,000 a tonne now. However, newspaper readers are paying the same cover price, but are making more from newspapers they bring in to recycle. About a month ago, they made Rs 5-6 for each kilogram. Now, they are making Rs 8-9, according to the Business Standard.

The Indian Newsprint Manufacturers' Association (INMA) had asked the Indian government to “bring down the duty on waste paper from 5 per cent to nil before the Budget. However, it was not granted,” Bajaj told the Business Standard.

Each year, India consumes about two million tonnes of newsprint, half of which is imported, Raji Philip, chairman and managing director of Hindustan Newsprint, told the Business Standard.