The market movement in plywood and film face category is again witnessing a harsh slow lifting across the country. The material lifting and payment situation is extremely dull owing to that Plyboard producers have reduced their production hours. The reports from plyboard manufacturing sector in different states hint that plywood demand has slowed down across the sector largely due to weak demand at customers and sites.
The factories in UP are running on an average 16-18 hours, whereas Yamunanagar manufacturers are operating at 12-14 hours in shifts. Punjab based producers are also operating at 12-14 hours of production except a couple of plants. In kerala and Mangalore clusters, plyboard manufacturers are running 50-60 percent of their capacity due to weak demand.
The organized segment players are operating according to their standard targets but sales pressure is very much visible at stock points. The payments are coming very slow that is restricting the marketers to go faster. The absence of artisans, carpenters and site contractors after Deepawali is said to be the prime cause for the dull movement in October. The sales pressure is huge on majority of plywood manufacturers which might impact the pricing in the market.
The film face plywood demand has been already hit since a 5-6 weeks due to slow working on construction and new projects. The rise in number of film face manufacturers in every region is said to be the key factor in divided lifting among factories because sales are getting divided.
The Ply reporter spoke to various dealers across different markets and found that people are hopeful for a better demand after 15th November when there will be clarity on GST rate reduction on plywood and there will be return of carpenters-contractors to work sites. Regarding payments market is not so optimistic because the money expected from end consumers and new projects is not flowing in the way its moves in a normal business days. The impact of GST and demonetization is still prevailing, feels every retailer and dealer, though there is optimism for quick revival in demands. Experts expect that market will be steady once GST slab on key products is reduced to 18 percent which is highly anticipated in month of November.