Iran war has compelled the Indian wood panel producers to re-plan their production and sales targets vis-à-vis cost & profit sheet. In a rapidly evolving and complex situation with no endgame in sight, the Oil prices have rocketed above $100 per barrel following the choking at Hormuz Strait, through which about 20% of global oil and gas traffic normally passes. Leading to such circumstances, India’s methanol supply is among hardesthit chemicals, followed by PVC resin, Acrylic monomer and imported urea.
India imports about 1.3 million tonnes of methanol annually, of which around 40% comes from Arabian Gulf. Iran itself is one of the world’s largest producers and exporters of methanol, and supply through the Strait of Hormuz accounts for 31% of global methanol trade. The conflict has disrupted shipping routes, creating significant uncertainty in Methanol and Urea supply, which is a critical source for wood panel decorative and related polymer sheet industries in India.
The biggest worry is that the choke points are rapidly developing and so is the enforcement of “Force majeure” by many companies in Qatar, Iran and neighbouring gulf countries. The scenario has halted Polymer, Urea, and Methanol production thus India is at loss to receive its methanol supply, resulting in 50-100 % price jump.
So far, almost every panel product and decorative interior and exterior product has witnessed price rise and production panic. The hike in the prices of Plywood is estimated to be 4-6%, laminates Rs 35- 80 per sheet, PVC laminate by Rs 100/sheet, acrylic by Rs 150-200/ sheet. MDF and Particle boards have also noted a jump of 5% while edge band tape saw 8-10-% increment. Apart from this, Adhesives, tiles and ACP have also seen a rise of 5% so far.
Even in this hard pressed situation, the distributors and stockiest have an opportunity to prove their role by investing more in materials to ease up the supply for the customers so that their needs can be re-ascertained. The current supply chains situation reminds us of the disruption, occasioned during the Covid time and I foresee that if Iran war stretches longer, the price of the entire panel product will spike up further along with suspension of production at various factories, therefore distributors also need to brace themselves up for any unforeseen circumstances.
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Pragat Dvivedi
Founder Editor
[Published in Ply Reporter's March 2026 Print Issue]