Home ›› 15 Sep 2021 ›› Front
The days of pristine handkerchief are gone; the white absorbent tissue paper has come in, making itself an almost indispensible item in everyday life.
A seemingly handy object for daily use, the tissue paper has become a part and parcel of human life.
The need for tissue has been driven by the growing consciousness of health hygiene and a rising sophistication and modernisation which has impacted the tissue industry and ultimately helped flourish.
The market size of tissue products has become more than double – Tk 720 crore to Tk 800 crore per annum within a decade in Bangladesh.
According to the sector people, facial tissue, toilet tissue, towel tissue, paper napkin and pocket tissue are readily getting popular and 80 per cent domestic demand is met by local companies.
Tissues have been an ideal paper for wiping out hands in restaurants and commercial places and are also storming offices and homes with their great significance.
There are 10-12 companies in the country originally producing tissue papers from raw materials while there are some small converter factories that make tissue purchasing jumbo rolls from other companies.
Industry sources said the yearly tissue production capacity in the country is more than 84,000 metric tonnesnesnes up from 30,000 metric tonnesnes in Fiscal Year 2016-17.
Local companies export tissue products to around 25 countries including the UK, Australia, Bahrain, the UAE, China, India and Bhutan. The export size is around 1,238 metric tonnesnes yearly.
According to sector people, only Bashundhara Group and Meghna Group of Industries export facial tissue, napkin, towel, toilet tissue and hygienic paper products.
Talking to The Business Post, Manager of Meghna Group of Industries Tofail Ahmed said their Fresh Tissues have been exported to different countries for several years but they could not export any last year due to the covid-19 pandemic.
Tofail Ahmed added that they were trying to increase their market share. “The export will begin again once a normal situation returns back,” he also added.
The data from 2018 suggests that per capita tissue consumption is about 4.1kg per year in Bangladesh.
According to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), Bangladesh exported tissue papers including toilet tissues, facial tissues, towel tissues, napkin tissues and other similar products worth $ 8.41 million in Fiscal Year 2020-21, which was $ 7.72 million in the previous fiscal.
Who are the exporters?
The global tissue paper market size was $ 65.66 billion in 2019 which is projected to reach $ 102.57 billion by 2026, exhibiting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.9 per cent during the forecast period, observed the Fortune Business Insights.
The major players in local market are Bashundhara Tissue of Bashundhara Group, Fresh Tissue of Meghna group, Bangla Tissue of East Asia Group, Sonali Tissue of Younus Group and Fay Tissue of Kallol Group.
Besides, Softy Tissue, Rainbow Tissue, Personal Tissue and Casper Tissue are also playing a good role in the market.
One of the largest business conglomerates -- Bashundhara Group -- is meeting around 85 per cent of local demand for tissues. It started commercial production in 1997.
Since then, the company has been producing different products including Facial Tissue, Paper Napkin, Pocket Wallet Tissue, Toilet Tissue, Wet Tissue and Tissue Jumbo Roll.
The gross profit of Bashundhara Paper Mills Ltd stood at Tk 1,87.76 crore in Fiscal Year 2019-2020. The company exported 16 types of tissue products to 25 countries.
Talking to The Business Post, Assistant General Manager M Mazedul Islam of the company, said they occupy the lion’s share of tissue market -- 85 per cent in Bangladesh and their investment is Tk 3,000 crore in the sector.
“The tissue industry is flourishing in the country due to the growing sense of health hygiene among people, but the raging pandemic hit the sector, shooting up the prices of raw materials by around 25 per cent,” he pointed out.
“But we did not increase our tissue price. We would like to enhance our market share through further quality products, and modern machines have been installed in out factories for the purpose.”
According to Meghna Pulp and Paper Mills Limited, Fresh Tissue came in second in terms of the Brand Forum’s estimation, and won Best Brand Award in 2018 and 2019.
The company imports raw materials from India, China, Indonesia, Brazil, Finland, France and Germany and exports to India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, UAE, South Africa, Mauritius, Australia, and many other countries.
General Manager of Bangla Tissue Shah Md Ruman Uddin told The Business Post they meet one-fourth of local demand.
“There is no exact data of demand for tissue paper in the country, of its production, nor are there any regulations to operate factories,” he said.
Ruman posited that the big shots set up tissue factories taking approval from the ministries concerned, hardly caring about any rule, and so an uneven competition is prevailing in the market.
“We would hike our production from existing 25 tonnesnesnes to 50 tonnesnesnes per day in future if we get bank assistance, and install new machines to make further quality products,” explained the company official.
Rubel Hossain, general manager, Personal Tissue, noted that they produce different kinds of tissues to meet local demand.
“Our 60-sheet facial tissue is sold at Tk 45 and 150-sheet fragrant tissue at Tk 80, 100-sheet restaurant tissue at Tk 50, napkin tissue at Tk 55, toilet tissue at Tk 18 and pocket tissue at Tk 10,” said the executive.
“We are facing challenges in the competitive market because of shortfall in our capital.”
A Bangshal shopkeeper Ramiz Uddin maintained that he sells a facial tissue box at between Tk 50 and Tk 100 as per brand quality and quantity.
Restaurant tissue is priced at Tk 40 to Tk 80, toilet tissue at Tk 15 to Tk 25 and pocket tissue at Tk10 to Tk 15.
“We keep different types of tissues in my shop as per customers’ choice. We sell products at the price set by the companies and fetch a little profit,” asserted Ramiz.
Shahjalal Khandaker, 65, a resident at Demra in the capital, said: “Once we used towels and napkins to clean hands and face. Now we use different tissues like facial, restaurant and toilet tissues out of our hygiene sense.”
The industry people stressed the need for lowering the supplementary duty to 20 per cent from existing 38 per cent, which they said, would bring down the cost of raw materials and help the industry thrive.
The main raw material of tissue is pulp imported from different countries especially from Switzerland. The price of the pulp increased to $ 1100 to $ 1150 from $ 600 due to the pandemic, and so is the market facing a challenge, explained the businessmen.
