Monday, June 12, 2017 11:15 am

JAKARTA, Indonesia (From the Post) -- Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) is forecasting the sales volume of Quran paper to increase by 7 percent to 23,625 metric tons (MT) this year, thanks to strong demand from countries in the Middle East, such as Iran, Egypt and Lebanon.

APP, the subsidiary of diversified conglomerate Sinar Mas Group, currently covers 60 percent of Quran paper needs worldwide. About 70 percent of its Quran paper is exported to the Middle East, while 8 percent is sold to the Indonesian market and the rest to other countries.

"Each market has a specific demand for Al-Quran paper. For example, Egypt prefers to use 55 gsm [grams per square meter] paper, while Beirut prefers 50 gsm," Citra Yulia, APP's product manager of color paper, said recently.

To boost export, the company consistently develops new products to satisfy customers' preference. On top of that, as the paper is used for holy books, the firm also ensures that the manufacturing process is free from non-halal substances.

"In the future, we are targeting to supply halal paper for Madinah Quran Printing in Saudi Arabia," she said.