The rain and flood has badly affected the plywood manufacturing in Kerala. The Perumbavoor region is the worst hit area with respect to industrial damage. The destruction caused by flood and rain has hit the plywood factories and its productivity in Kerala. The loss to plywood industry alone is anticipated in tune of more than Rs. 350 crore. According to Mr. M.M Mujeeb Rahman, President of Sawmill Owners & Plywood Manufacturers Association (SOPMA), the industry has never seen such a massive setback since inception. Talking to The Ply Reporter, he said, “More than 60 plywood units have been damaged or immersed in water fully or partially. Each unit is having an approximate loss worth Rs. 60 lakh to 2 crore due to the dreadful rain and flash flood.
The reports reveal that Building, roof, raw materials stock, finished good stocks, machines, electrical items, panel board and factory floor and landscape are damaged forever. In Kerala there are about 750 plywood manufacturing units among which around 450 units are located in Perumbavoor and contiguous area. The biggest plywood manufacturing cluster, Perumbavoor alone produces huge quantity of plywood every day.
Mr. M. M Mujeeb Rahman said to The ply Reporter that it would take minimum 2 to 3 months to recover from the present damage to recuperate situation. Due to this natural calamity, price of the raw wood cost has increased hence this situation is bound to increase plywood cost as well he added further. “Roads in these districts, especially in Idukki and Pathanam are badly damaged. Many rubber trees got uprooted in the heavy rains. Transporting timber to Perumbavoor is a difficult task now. This has caused shortage of raw material and brought down production by 50 %. Currently, we purchase rubber wood locally,” said Mr. Shafeek P K, Vice President, SOPMA.
Concerned about the situation of plywood industry, Mr. Rahman said that the situation is so challenging at present that industrialists dealing in plywood have no option other than starting a business from scratch. With regard to damages and losses, he informed that the industries department has recently visited all factories and have collected all statements and details about the damages and loss from each one.
Expecting a support from government to restart the operations, he said “We are expecting a loan amount of Rs 25 lacs for each factory without interest from government. We are ready to pay the amount after recovery in a 1 or 2 year time but it should be without interest as factory owners are not in a situation to pay any kind of interest. The financial loss to the industry is unimaginable and recoverability will take a long time feels majority of manufacturers in Perumbavoor region.
The impact of Kerala floods are already visible in southern markets where material supplies have witnessed a sharp fall. The orders for all poplar plywood has once again increased to substitute the Perumbavoor supplies for a while. Although plywood manufacturers in other parts of Kerala, whose plants are unaffected has increased their production hours to cater the
supply gap. The Ply Reporter found that Perambavoor plywood cluster would be able to gain normalcy in another 2 months once maintenance and reestablishment of machines completes.