MEPCO's paper tissue factory to cover 20% of Kingdom's demand, price unlikely to decline: CEO

Sami Al Safran, CEO of Middle East Paper Co.

Sami Al Safran, CEO of Middle East Paper Co. (MEPCO), said that the Saudi market imports about 60% of the needs of tissue paper, adding that the company's new paper tissue factory will cover about 20% of local demand.
 

Speaking in a video interview with Argaam, Al Safran indicated that the company plans to start trial production of the factory in the first quarter of 2023, and will seek to start commercial operation in the first or second quarter of the same year.

He stressed that paper products from Saudi factories are of high quality, which is contrary to the low specifications and quality of products imported from foreign markets.
 

The CEO said: "Based on the disruptions in the supply chains and the political crisis in Ukraine, we do not expect a decrease in prices, as we noticed at the start of March an increase in the prices of paper products in European factories at a rate of $100-150 and up to $300 for some products".
 

International prices will likely affect the prices of paper in the local market. MEPCO's monitoring of prices in those markets to provide the best price serves both the consumer and industry, according to Al Safran.
 

The CEO said that MEPCO currently has healthy levels of stockpiles, indicating that the reason for maintaining the company's stock prices is due to its subsidiary Wasco, which supplies most of the raw materials to it, while 10-20% of raw materials are imported from abroad and are affected by international prices.