The growth of Indonesia’s paper industry shows what happens when investors don’t grasp the fundamentals
Last March, Asia Pulp & Paper, the world’s largest emerging-market corporate debtor, susÂpended payments of interest and principal on roughly $13.4 billion in outstanding obligations. APP’s massive default has brought to an abrupt halt the seven-fold expansion of Indonesia’s pulp and paper sector over the past decade. However, the scale of the problem may not be fully understood yet.