According to the report published, the Rs 18,000-crore corrugated box industry is in dire straits due to rising kraft paper prices and supply disruptions.

The rise in cost is in lieu with the closure of kraft paper mills across India. Kraft paper mills in the western zone went for first closure from January 27-31 this year, the second one from February 11-15 and they have announced the next from March 11-15, the statement said.

Also, paper mills in other zones are also closing in sync with West zone. South zone mills also closed their plants from February 11-15 and North zone has announced their closure from March 1 to 5.

"The industry is staring at huge losses on account of frequent price increases in last one month by paper mills. To make the matters worse, the kraft mills are closing their plants every month on pre-determined dates thus creating massive supply disruptions. Both these actions have caused extreme volatility," Modi said.

“Under these circumstances, the industry does not have any other option but to pass this increase to consumers to sustain this impact,” he said.

The statement said that the industry is looking at a minimum of 12% price increase immediately on boxes so that the corrugated box industry is able to cover supplies of kraft paper well in time to avoid any disruptions in the supply chain.

In addition to the cost impact, there is a serious issue of availability of kraft paper supplies in time to the industry due to the frequent closures by all kraft paper mills in various regions, the report said.

The industry, which is employing over 6,00,000 workforce is playing a pivotal role in the Indian economy by producing almost 52,00,000 tpa boxes with the total market size of Rs 18,000 crores per annum, it said.

The cumulative impact of the price hikes on the corrugated box industry, which is already in the doldrums, is to the tune of 12% minimum across India.