Wood Panel industry has been facing a different kind of trouble since the last three months in terms of technical grade urea as the government is strict against industry using agricultural urea. If the authorities find it within the premises, the owner has to face a non-bailable warrant and can be sent behind bars. Because of this, there is a fear in the industry fraternity. The industry players say that the matter of concern is the non-availability of technical grade urea.
According to media reports in the last three months, about 35,000 sacks of urea (45 kg each) have been seized; six people have been arrested; and many FIRs (First Information Reports) have been registered. With the wood panel industry being largely scattered, the industry associations in different parts of the country are seeing and handling the situation in their own way.
The industry is facing a big crisis due to government staples. Plywood factories in many states, including Haryana, Punjab, UP, Kerala, Gujarat, etc have been badly affected by it. Urea is used to make glue. The industry players say that they purchase technical grade urea, and if the investigation team tests it and finds agricultural grade inside the package, they put the onus on the manufacturing units. It means there are discrepancies at the suppliers' end.
On the other hand, the supplier also blames the industry on the ground of tempering and repackaging. This has created a dilemma for the industry. Industrialists say that they are ready to pay higher prices for urea. But the government should prepare a system for this. The problem is that most of the urea is being imported. There is no provision to provide urea to industrialists without subsidy
As per reports, a number of Plywood, Particle Boards industries in different clusters have temporarily shut their operation till they find its solution. Industry people say that they could not take risks because if they buy urea, it does not guarantee technical or agriculture, if they buy resin, it is not surety that it is made with using technical urea. Many industry clusters have informed resin manufacturers to use only technical grade urea.