A number of former Soviet states may face with a shortage of paper this year, that will be mainly due to the ongoing pandemic, which fuels the demand and complex logistics, which leads to interruption of supplies.
Probably the most complex situation is currently observed in Kazakhstan, which in recent weeks has faced with an acute shortage of toilet paper and a significant increase of prices for it.
According to the Kazakh media resource zakon.kz for the last 12 months toilet paper in Kazakhstan has risen in price by 6%, while the annual output of paper and paper products in the country for eight months of the current year amounted to KZT 56.8 billion (US$134 million). This is 5.4% more in value terms than a year earlier.
The Almaty region remains a major paper-producing region in Kazakhstan this year, which output amounted to KZT 19.3 billion in value terms, being by 38.7% higher year-on-year basis.
In 2020, the production of paper and paper products in Kazakhstan increased by 17.4% in value terms: to KZT 71.1 billion.
By: Eugene Gerden