There is a clear change in decorative products. During a study that we did in the last 4-5 months in Eastern India and earlier in Southern & Northern India, one thing is clear that the decorative market has changed rapidly and Supply chain is a big issue, besides that since imports are rampant along with a lot of factories bringing new products in India, aggressive marketing has become vital along with innovation.
It is advisable to dealers, distributors, retailers or sales professionals to see if a product is reasonably priced. When you associate with a company in a way where the pricing is at least and it should sustain advertising cost, awareness cost and promotion cost. They have to decide in this competitive market with whom you are and how long you are going to be associated.
A new opportunity has emerged in the tier 2 & 3 cities with the opening of small furniture factories at a cost of around Rs 20- 50 lacs, contractors are setting up their manufacturing unit. As soon as these factories are set up in small areas, they will have certain consumption. The distributors who only target retail counters have a new opportunity. Even in metro cities, it is a new opportunity to target these furniture makers because it is not possible to give goods to any furniture manufacturer from a direct company. It is not possible. Even in metro cities, it is a new opportunity to target these furniture makers because it is not feasible to cater to these furniture manufacturers directly from the company.
Somewhere, the market is ready for distributors. Good distributors need to target these small emerging furniture manufacturers and deliver their material to them. It is subject to estimation that companies barely dispatch directly to these 10-12 thousand furniture manufacturers. Upon verifying, it was found that hardly 3-4% of units get goods directly from companies and these are those who are producing A or B grade material or who are stable in their work and their payments are sorted. Since it is an emerging sector, I think it will take 10-15 years. This is where the role of distributors comes in, who also lend financial & moral support along with offering the products. In this way, distributors need to clear their targets and identify their expertise in a product segment. In today's competitive market, there is neither shortage of products nor of buyers. People tend to spend Rs 20-25 lakhs on the interior of his 3BHK flat, which was only around Rs 5 lakhs earlier. Most of the people are using high-gloss acrylic or modern surface materials along with branded hardware.
If we talk about HD+ HMR category MDF, the news of green boards is rampant. Though after BIS, a lot of things have changed and MDF HDF boards have taken the markets of plywood. Similarly, new marine boards or moist master or such chip boards have also started encroaching upon the market of low range plywood.
Factually, there is only steady growth of 6%-7% in plywood and 7%-8% in decorative products as the base of the market has increased, the growth is not catching up, but the value should increase because the customer is getting more aware and the demand for new and better products. If one cares to analyse the market record, then from 1995 to 2005, the time was of manufacturers which included plywood companies, laminate companies and other companies which made doors. Distributors and dealers used to follow them. The time from 2005 to 2015 was for distributors. The time from 2015 to 2025 has passed and we can see that this is the time of retail/ dealer counters
Looking at regional growth, there was a period in which West India, particularly Maharashtra, Gujarat used to lead the entire construction, material demand and growth, which was followed by South India that growth for many days, especially in shuttering plywood or plywood, MDF or particle board, decorative laminate or veneer, it was Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Since the last 3-4 years, a lot of factories have been set up in the North, there is also supply, and along with connectivity with Delhi NCR, so there is a lot of growth here, but it is not felt. In 2026, when we explore the entire Northeast carefully, it is apparent that Northeast is going to be a better market which is testified by the outcomes of our recently organized, Matecia, Kolkata event and we should look forward to East and Northeast in a better way.
[Published in Ply Reporter's March 2026 Print Issue]