Cotton based mould made paper is produced by Security State Paper Mills or by specialist security papermakers who supply only to banknote printers. The use of mould made cotton based paper for banknotes has the advantage of the realistic competitive market pricing and security of supply which results from multiple sources. At the same time the physical security of supply which comes about from dealing with specialist security papermakers is maintained. Cotton based mould made paper is not converted from another more widely available manufactured material, it is the result of a specific manufacturing process which can only be done by specialist security papermakers. Cylinder mould made paper machines are specialist equipment costing tens of millions of dollars, and are not used in any other industry.
Manufacturing is done under strict physical security and security accounting.
A counterfeiter can never legally obtain a sheet of genuine cylinder mould made cotton banknote paper. In contrast plastic polymer used for banknotes started life as a commercially available plastic film. Tens of thousands of tons each year are produced of the same plastic sheet in many different thickness and used for many commercial products. Since the base plastic substrate has no in built security, it is possible to legally obtain similar material to use for the start of a counterfeiting operation. Counterfeiters can print a coating on the surface as easily as genuine plastic banknote printers.