Long Chen Paper Co (China) this past week said it would halt the operation of a paper machine at a plant in Hubei Province, China, mainly due to the Chinese government’s tighter control over waste paper imports, according to a report by the Taiwan-based Taipei Times.

The machine, with an annual capacity of 450,000 metric tpy of high-quality industrial paper products, would undergo planned maintenance from today (Jan. 26, 2018) to mid-April, the company said in a statement. The Taipei Times article noted that total production at the Hubei mill would decrease by 103,000 metric tons due to the temporary shutdown.

As a result of the lower production volume, Long Chen’s revenue is forecast to fall by NT$1.6 billion ($54.4 million), which represents 3.46% of last year’s sales, the company said.

The decision was made because the company’s Hubei-based subsidiary, Hubei Long Chen Recycling Technology Co., has not yet obtained permits to buy wastepaper from overseas markets.

As explained in the Taipei Times article, papermakers in China rely on imports of wastepaper, which are the most important material for industrial paper products, but Beijing imposed a ban on wastepaper imports in the second half of last year amid pollution concerns.

The Hubei subsidiary, which began production in October of last year, is expected to receive China’s approval for importing wastepaper by the end of March at the earliest, Long Chen said.