The plywood import from Nepal has been reported to a robust growth in arrival in north India markets. The inbound truckloads from Nepal are reportedly increasing with every month passing. These plywood are said to be available at economical price around Rs 43-46 which has attacked the Indian plywood ranging between 48- 53. It has directly affected the plywood industry located in Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. As per report, Nepalese plywood are mostly sold in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Odisha and a part of Chhattisgarh, Vidarbha, and Madhya Pradesh.
The recent report indicates that the dealers from Delhi, Gujarat and Maharashtra are also keen to buy Nepalese Plywood and looking for contacts. Many dealers contact the Ply Reporter office regularly and ask for the number of Nepal based Plywood producers and traders.
A dealer from Jaipur said that Nepalese plywood quality is not up to mark but it is available at affordable price, hence he prefers to buy these materials as compared to domestic plywood materials. As per manufacturers of Yamuna nagar and UP, the Nepalese Plywood reaches at approx Rs 38 to Rs 45 in Indian market but of very inferior wood. Reliable sources in Nepal manufacturing clusters said that Nepal exports plywood products in the Indian market every month, and it is growing.
Nepal Plywood manufacturers use UTIS core veneers for making plywood, which is available in abundant quantities there. UTIS is like hardwood timber, and its density is said to be similar to Poplar timber.
In Northern region Plywood markets, this plywood is available at around 15 percent lower than the North India origin same grade plywood. Lastly many qualities related issues and questions are now raised by trade and industry in India. The blame is on timber used by manufacturers in Nepal. The use of low-density timber called ‘UTIS’ in Nepal does not make the plywood stronger when compared to quality produced by Indian mid segment brands.
The industry and trade experts explained that most of the plywood manufacturing units in Nepal produce plywood from ‘UTIS’ which is low in density. There are hardly a dozen unit which actually produces good quality mainly from imported plantation timber from India. It is also evident that many ‘Made in Nepal’ ply is under 18 mm thickness and the weight of every 18 mm plywood is ranging between 24-28 kg per pc. The plywood made in India is of weight around 36-38 kg per sheet of 8x4mm. The key reason behind less cost of Nepal based plywood is being very low density of timber used. There are reports that even mixed timber including Semul is also being used to reduce the cost which is impacting the durability.