Lack of orders worries packaging industry

Ambika Sharma

Tribune News Service

Solan, July 7

Lack of demand for packaging material from the orchardists is giving anxious moments to corrugation industry which had received barely a fraction of the orders till now.

After having suffered lack of demand in the lockdown, the manufacturers were hopeful of doing some business in apple season. “There are 250-odd corrugation box manufacturing units in Himachal and they have received orders for producing about one lakh boxes as against 10 lakh to 15 lakh demand received during this period in the past several years” informed Surinder Jain, president, HP Corrugation Box Manufacturers Association, who runs a food packaging unit in the state’s industrial hub of Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh (BBN).

He said lack of timely intervention had also caused loss to the cherry growers who would sell only 20 per cent of their crop in the state. The association has been pursuing this issue with the state government since April so that arrangements for marketing and packaging of apple could be initiated but not much has been achieved. The apple harvesting season which has just begins generally lasts till early September.

In a bid to lure the orchardists, the association has also reduced the rate of boxes to about Rs 42 to Rs 44 per box from last year’s price of Rs 48 to Rs 50 per box.

Despite sending staff to the apple growing belt to take orders, the demand was scarce. Even wholesale arhtias (agents who procure and sell), who make boxes available to the growers and generally come from the plains to buy apples in Himachal, have not come this year, informed another investor.

“States like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kolkata, Delhi, Gujarat, etc., which were among the major consumers of quality apples were facing a large number of Covid cases. Lack of demand from these states has, therefore, dissuaded the arhtias from coming forward to buy apples” observed Govind Thakur, an apple grower from Kotgarh in Shimla district. The lack of exports, non-operation of hotels and lack of marriages was further adding to the lack of demand, he added.

About 4 crore apple boxes of about 20 kg each are used in the state if the production is good. With adverse weather like hailstones and disease striking the apple belt, the apple production is slated to be lesser this year, informed Thakur.