The Indian wood panel sector is facing challenges in the face of persistent increase in the price of domestic timber across various parts of the country. Over some months High timber cost has compelled the panel products manufacturers to increase the price of finished products with immediate effect to recompense their input cost.
Following the scenario, the price of entire panel products such as plywood, MDF, particle boards and doors are likely to see a hike as timber is the basic usable element of the industry. Nowadays, the timber for Plywood is available at the average price of Rs 1000 per quintal whereas for MDF the average price of timber stands at Rs 700 per quintal. In northern India the conditions are even more constrained as the Timber for Plywood is available at as much as Rs 1500 per quintal while for MDF it is for Rs 750.
It is a notable fact that for sustainable and quality manufacturing practices, the market has to adopt a flexible approach in terms of accepting higher timber cost in upcoming days. As per Mr Keshav Bhajanka, Executive Director of Century Plyboards, the timber price is going to remain on the higher side and the company could announce another price hike to tackle the margin issue. “In our plywood segment, we have taken a price increase. We took a price increase last quarter and we are taking a price increase this year as well,” he said.
Although in recent times, the imported timber such as Eucalyptus and Pinewood from Uruguay, Australia etc has kept the operations in domestic plywood industries, near ports in comfort zones. As per report, some days back the manufacturers in Yamuna Nagar, Haryana area also received the assignment of the Pine Log from Kandla port, Gujarat which provided a much needed relief among the north based plywood manufacturers. According to plywood producers, the imported timber keeps a check on the skyrocketing prices of the domestic plantation timber.