臺灣造紙業之危機：以原料來源及國際競爭力為中心（1954－1967）

A Crisis in the Pulp and Paper Industry in Taiwan, 1954-1967: A Discussion on the Sources of Raw Materials and International Competitiveness

臺灣造紙業源自日治時期，起於製糖會社為有效利用榨完甘蔗後遺留下來的蔗渣，開始進行蔗渣造紙的研究，並成立製紙會社。1930年代中期，蔗渣造紙技術已臻成熟，本欲開始大量生產，後因戰爭而受阻。戰後，各會社為中華民國政府所接收，糖業會社合組成台灣糖業公司，較大的紙業會社則合併為台灣紙業公司。戰前製糖會社在榨糖後將蔗渣交給所屬製紙廠造紙的模式，遂因紙、糖分家而改變。蔗渣作為造紙原料，其成本高低是造紙業能否打入外銷市場的關鍵。各大紙廠莫不希望台糖能提供大量且便宜的蔗渣，藉以壓低生產成本。對台糖而言，蔗渣除用做鍋爐燃料，也是堆肥及養豬不可或缺的原料，因此蔗渣成為紙、糖兩業爭奪不休的根源。1950年代中期以後，蔗渣價格年年高漲，使造紙成本遠高於使用木材的外國紙廠，外銷市場幾乎無法打開。為此，造紙業連年呼籲台糖重視其生死存亡，並要求政府介入。然而，由於造紙業從日治時期便依附在製糖產業、走上與他國不同的發展道路，蔗渣供應不足是造紙業難以避免的窘局。公營的台糖及民營的造紙，為了自身發展均各陳己見，互不相讓；作為仲裁者的政府機關，則需顧慮產業發展，又不使公營事業招致虧損而努力協調。造紙業即是在這種先天失調的情況下勉力維持。1970年代以後，臺灣開始大量使用木漿，蔗渣才逐漸退出舞台，結束其在造紙業60餘年的重要地位。

The development of the pulp and paper industry in Taiwan can be traced back to the Japanaese colonial period. The sugar manufacturing companies not only launched research on bagasse paper manufacture to deal with sugarcane bagasse, but also founded several affiliated paper manufacture companies. The technique of bagasse paper manufacturing became mature in the 1930s, and thus the paper manufacturing companies intended to mass produce bagasse papers. The plan, however, was obstructed by wars. After the Second World War, the ROC government took over all colonial companies. The sugar manufacturing companies were integrated into the Taiwan Sugar Corporation (also known as the Taisugar) while the paper manufacturing companies consolidated and formed the Taiwan Pulp and Paper Corporation (also known as the TPPC). During the Japanese colonial period, the sugar manufacturing companies transferred bagasse to their affiliated paper manufacturing companies. The end of the superiorsubordinate relationship between sugar and paper industry resulted in competition for bagasse. Bagasse as raw materials for paper production, its price determined if the paper industry in Taiwan was able to enter export markets. The TPPC thus hoped that the Taisugar could offer a large amount of bagasse with low price to help cost down. On the other hand, the Taisugar required bagasse to be used as fuels for boilers as well as raw materials for compost and pig farming. This competition forecasted a decade-long crisis in the pulp and paper industry in Taiwan. Beginning in the mid-1950s, the price of bagasse was rising annually. The TPPC was almost impossible to enter export markets, because its production cost was much higher than foreign companies which employed wood pulp as raw materials for paper. As a result, the TPPC appealed to the Taisugar for support and asked the government for intervention in controlling the price of bagasse. In fact, the superior-subordinate relationship between sugar and paper industry in the colonial period was different from the development of paper industry in other countries. The difference predicted that the shortage of bagasse for the paper industry in Taiwan was an unavoidable dilemma. However, the publicly-owned Taisugar and the private TPPC (privatized in 1956) for the sake of their own interests would rather not to make a concession. The government as an intermediary was also in a predicament. On the one hand, it needed to take care of national industrial development; on the other hand, to maintain the profit of the public enterprises was the obligation of government. The pulp and paper industry in Taiwan did not get rid of the difficulty until 1970s, when wood pulp has finally replaced bagasse as raw materials for paper.