The 21-day lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic has badly affected the entire wood panel industry and trade. The Ply Reporter estimates that Indian Plywood, Decorative Veneer, Decorative Laminate, MDF, Particle Boards and other interior décor surface products, which are driven by plywood dealers, are worst hit, and may led to a loss of approx. Rs. 3,000 crore during the 21-day (25 March – 14 April) lockdown. With the lockdown being extended up to 3 May 2020, due to growing number of Corona positive cases, the loss to this sector will further increase at approximately Rs 135 crore per day.
Industry pioneers, trade professionals and experts estimated greater loss to this sector. They reason that because furniture is not considered as a primary need of a person, these products come under luxury segment, and it will take another 3 to 4 months to recover and meet the market demand. Ply Reporter’s estimate indicates that once the industry starts production, the capacity utilization would be just 15-20% in the first month and it will improve slowly, with improving market sentiments and demand. The lower capacity utilization will increase the operational cost of the factories leading to high input cost of product, and hence product prices will be dearer by 20%.
Experts estimate that normalcy will set in by the second half of FY’21; the first half would be a complete washout. The loss could be the tune of Rs 20,000 crore or even more.