Amulya Mica Group brings innovative designs in the laminate category. They offer high standard quality of 1 mm laminates, 1.5 mm laminates along with special laminates such as synchro series, 7 wonders, High Gloss, Solid Color etc. With pan India market presence, the brand Amulya Mica has registered among the ‘Branded Laminate Segment’ in the Indian market. They also have a good presence in the overseaslaminate market as well. They also produce WPC Boards and Doors, PVC laminates at its unit located in Gandhidham, Gujarat. They have recently expanded the production capacity of WPC Boards and Doors. Recently they have got CARB/E0 certificate for their Plywood, which has shown their commitment to offer formaldehyde emission free plywood to the customer. Amulya Mica Group has been growing leaps and bounds under leadership of Mr Rakesh Agarwal, Managing Director of the company. The excerpt of a recent discussion with him.
Q. How did you see the Laminate sector performance in 23-24?
Laminate as a Surface solution product has been in the country since a long period of time and is very well known to its applicants. I envision a lot of competition in the coming time however the product category will grow a lot and I see better growth potential in bigger size laminate and government projects as well. The retail market has become very competitive which needs abundance of capital investment as today’s customer is better aware and wants a cluster of all; pricing, utility to stakeholders, brand visibility and out of the box designs. To conclude, I am positive for the laminate industry and its future growth.
Q. There have been many new factories crowding the Indian laminate sector, how do you see the next 2 years for laminates?
Numerous factories are coming up in different geographies of the country which has created pressure on the margins of the laminate industry however the new entrants are struggling a lot no matter if their capabilities are good but the market’s needs are very versatile. Maybe the commoditized products in the laminate industry like Liners grade laminates, Compact laminates and 0.8 mm become a regional business in future.
Q. Which areas Amulya Mica will put the thrust in 24-25?
Amulya Mica as a brand is known for its quality and its numerous offerings in the market, the company has plans to focus upon the complementary and supplementary products to get new customers. Not only this, we are planning to spend a considerable amount in brand building activities, business development activities, focus on government projects, premium segments and export market. We have plans to further modernize our plants, invest in logistics infrastructure and also deploy sales manpower for better service to our trade partners and managing secondary sales.
Q. How is WPC & Plywood performance for you (being on an advantageous location near Port)
Panel products are a voluminous product category in our offerings.
WPC: - Today we have the benefit of personalization to produce custom made products with efficiency. We have added 2 machines of door frames in the past 15 months and have seen a good growth here which in turn have improved the performance of WPC doors as well. Advantageous location always helps in better planning, staying relevant during the purchase and mobilizing supply chain.
We are planning to launch value added products in WPC panels to stay put in the marketplace.
Plywood: - Our base is low and hence growth figures will be misleading. However, we have grown and have planned a growth of over 30% in FY 2024-25. We envision tremendous growth in the plywood industry irrespective of the buzz in the market that MDF is eating its share which is why a couple of months ago we applied for the certification of CARB which is made with E0 resin. This particular product category requires stringent quality parameters which is why only a handful of Indian manufacturers have the same certifications, we are proud to say that we are among one of them.
Having a plant in the harbours of the port definitely helps us but instead of plywood, block boards are the major attraction of Gandhidham region and in turn puts us in the advantageous position as pine-based frames and blocks are readily available here.
Q. What is your view for Retail counters and distributors operating in the Laminate category?
Distributors have to be very proficient with their inventories and supply chain modalities; the concept of distribution in laminate industries is still very relevant and practical provided their ideology and the brand with which they are associated are in sync with one another. Today’s good distributor must also be a good retailer to know the nuances of the business and deal in complementary, supplementary and alternative products to know the relevance of one another. Retailers have already matured a lot off late which is why we have seen tremendous growth in shops which are larger in size, offer numerous products, and have good display units.
Retailers must focus on creating a good shopping experience for their customers by going phygital (physical + digital), digitalization here refers to bringing AI & ML experiences in their shops such that the concept of physical catalogue will be no more a prerequisite for them and simultaneously enhance the shopping experience of the end customers or the specifiers.