DefinePK

Abstract

ABSTRACT After separation of East Pakistan where the match industry was located due to availability of raw material, acute shortage of safety matches was felt in the country. In the wake of that, several mushroom industries mostly at cottage level developed which used paper and cardboard and wax for this purpose. However, as the demand rose with the increase in population, several new well-organized and modern units were set up. The total production during 1983-84 was estimated at 1668 million match boxes out of which 40% were produced from wood and 60% from wax and cardboard. Currently 9 large units using wood as a raw material are producing 537 million match boxes every year. The wastage of the wood for this industry has been estimated at about 15-20%. The production cost and the whole sale price of one gross of match boxes is Rs.16.85 and Rs.18.27 respectively. The current annual consumption of wood is around 14,662 m3. The demand for round wood for the year 1990,1995, and 2000 comes to 18,069; 20,795 and 24,202 m3 respectively.