The $637 million business of supplying back-to-school textbooks has resulted in local publishers receiving larger textbook contract endorsements, this year–due in part to the shut out of foreign firms.

Four of the five publishers saw a rise in contracts up to July compared to last year, latest data suggests. Carlong Publishers and Book Wizard saw the greatest rise in contracts up 20 per cent to $219.9 million and $123.6 million, respectively. Kingston Bookshop won $246.2 million in contracts or $6 million more than last year; Metro Corporation won $31.4 million compared with no contracts listed last year; and Sangster Book Stores at $16.9 million down 80 per cent from last year.

These firms were recently endorsed for contracts by the National Contracts Committee and await approval by Cabinet. The contracts relate to the procurement of textbooks for secondary schools, according to chairman of the Book Industry Association of Jamaica (BIAJ) Franklin McGibbon.

He told the Observer that only local firms won contracts because the segment most vulnerable to foreign publishers–primary school textbooks–was not put to tender. “The ministry had indicted before that they would more than likely use the books that are in the schools,” he said. “They indicated that they would be doing some level of inventory to see what number of books are in the primary schools.”

The ministry when contacted was not able to give comment on the contracts. Without primary contracts, the total number of textbook contracts issued by the ministry this year declined some 27 per cent from $871 million to the current $637 million.

In 2009 local firms lost ground to a UK firm–Macmillan who won a primary school textbook contract valued at $225 million or 25 per cent of the total contracts issued in that year. It was the first time in years that an international firm won that procurement contract and it arguably contradicted government’s December 2008 bail-out plan–aimed at giving an advantage to local firms in winning contracts.

“There is a print contract at the primary level and for a number of years a Trinidad & Tobago company has won that contract. Second there is a procurement contract for primary textbooks and last year Macmillan as well as Jamaica Publishing House was successful,” explained McGibbon.

When contacted Carlong manager Carl Carby referred the Observer to the BIAJ for comment.

Last week McGibbon told the Observer that average textbook prices increased two percent. He credited the low increase in the prices on the majority of books to a stable foreign exchange rate. McGibbon added that the local book industry has been hit hard by the visit of the floating bookstore Logos and the continuing economic recession.