Indo Global Commercials is a trading house dealing in grades of pulp and paper, including newsprint, writing and printing paper, packaging paper and boards, and waste-paper. In an interview with Paper Mart, Mr. Saksham Jain, Executive Director at Indo Global, stated that the company is currently in a global expansion phase, and is increasing its sales teams in the Middle East, Africa and Far-East. The company is selling paper to over 50 countries across six continents and plans to develop a global team to increase its market share in the coming decade.
Paper Mart: Can you please tell us about your experience here at Paperex 2025?
Saksham Jain: It’s a pleasure to be here at Paperex for the third time. We have been exhibiting since the post COVID edition, and it has consistently been a great experience. Paperex is the perfect platform to connect with Indian paper manufacturers, paper merchants, convertors and fellow industry participants. As exhibitors, it has always been valuable for us, offering exposure to not only the Indian market but also international participants, providing an excellent opportunity to showcase our products and highlight the value we bring to our partners and the industry at large.
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PM: What are the challenges that you face while exporting your products to the international market?
SJ: The biggest challenge we are facing is the oversupply and excessive capacity in the global market for most commodity grades. During the COVID boom, many new paper mills were established and capacities went up globally; but the demand growth has not been enough to consume these additional capacities. This is creating unhealthy competition among suppliers, and in my opinion the biggest challenge we face in entering already saturated markets. The situation is especially aggravated in the case of commodity grades like graphic papers, duplex boards and kraft/corrugation papers.
However, we still see a potential in value-added specialty grades as India improves its manufacturing capabilities to deliver better quality products which are accepted in international markets, such as MG papers, barrier-coated products and papers for flexible packaging. However the consumers are taking longer to accept and adjust to the changing regulatory and environmental needs to scale these products to desirable volumes – if you compare them to non fiber-based packaging.
PM: What is your strategy to help paper manufacturers in selling these speciality grade products?
SJ: Our ability to help manufacturers lies in our strength to find a niche market for these products. Our sales teams are always looking for innovative solutions to drive acceptance of fiber-based raw materials in packaging applications. However, this demands patience and the manufacturer’s long-term mindset. Customers are actively preferring mill sources with a service mindset and not spot-market approach driven by pricing arbitrages in the short-term. Frequent market visits along with the mill’s technical sales team strongly supports and adds value to the overall product offering.
Indo Global is selling to over 50 countries with the help of our sales team and partner network globally. While India is our biggest market, we have established a large presence in Africa and the Middle East. We also export some volumes to Europe, Latin America and Australasia.
PM: How do you view the current obstacles in the Indian paper industry in terms of paper imports and raw material price surge?
SJ: As I talked earlier about supply overcapacity, this is not only been affecting Indian paper mills, but also large mills in China, South-East Asia and even Europe, driving down mill operating rates. India is a growing and big market, and most global paper mills are being aggressive in their pricing strategies to achieve volumes from the Indian market to increase their operating rates. Together with low-cost products from Asia and stocklots from the West, these aggressive strategies are creating an obstacle for domestic production. More recently, the US tariffs on India have reduced Indian exports dampening demand for certain grades, further putting a pressure on pricing.
Earlier this year, India implemented the Minimum Import Price (MIP) on imports of multi-layer virgin boards, which has helped the mills in India to improve the prices and operating rates to some extent, which was much needed. Moreover, the addition of new capacities post COVID has reached a flat curve (globally) which is a positive sign for a more stabilized market in 2026 if demand keeps growing consistently.
PM: Can you tell us about your market footprint?
SJ: Indo Global is selling to over 50 countries with the help of our sales team and partner network globally. While India is our biggest market, we have established a large presence in Africa and the Middle East. We also export some volumes to Europe, Latin America and Australasia.
PM: What are the recent developments happening in your company?
SJ: The most important development for us has been our market entry in the wood pulp trade. Building on our existing relationships with Indian paper manufacturers where we supply waste-paper to them and export their finished paper, we have now also started supplying virgin wood pulp – whether it is hardwood, softwood, BCTMP or unbleached pulp. Another development has been towards increasing the strength of our team and are currently in a global expansion phase. Since 2023, we have established local sales teams in Egypt, Morocco, West Africa, Dubai and Singapore. Our vision is to keep this momentum going by continuing to build our global team so we can be closer to our customers and service them with the highest standards.
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PM: How do you foresee the future of the paper industry?
SJ: Paper industry has demonstrated strong demand growth indicators especially coming in from the packaging sector, which will continue as more economies introduce laws and awareness on circular economy and sustainable solutions. The substitution of raw material to paper grades is evident and is supported by paper mills in the form of new product innovation – such as cupstocks, barrier boards, low grammage kraft, moulded fiber, barrier coatings – the list can go on.
Moreover the pace of decline in the graphic paper sector has also stabilized, as the effects of digitalization have started to peak. Global education levels continue to increase with many countries still preferring pen-and-paper education at the primary and secondary levels. As long as the supply can be regulated to match the true demand, paper manufacturers have a bright future ahead.
At Indo Global, we too as a company were 100% focused on newsprint for 25 years, however we adapted to the changing market requirements and improved our product portfolio. Product diversification, market diversification and global expansion have helped us in meeting our growth expectations.
At Indo Global, we too as a company were 100% focused on newsprint for 25 years, however we adapted to the changing market requirements and improved our product portfolio. Product diversification, market diversification and global expansion have helped us in meeting our growth expectations.
