The wood panel industries including Plywood, Laminates, Particle Boards, MDF, Timber Saw mills, Furniture etc are labour intensive manufacturing set up which were severely hit after COVID pandemic outbreak. This sector has been doing maximum effort for automization in plants but workers are still the main pillar for the industry production. The absence of workers led to shut down of factory operations and evidently industry feared to survive the tough time without sufficient number of workers. That is why 'April onward exodus of migrant workers created an uncertainty among producers and challenges grew up. If an enterprise has less number of workforces, meaning it incurs heavy loss in their productivity or maximum efficiency won't be utilised. Usually the wood panel sector faces the shortage of workers during April to June month, and their productivity drops by half. But this time, the migration of labourers due to COVID pandemic was unexpected and there was doubt among producers that ‘When and how, the migrant labourers would be back to their work?’ With many states announcing some jobs locally, there were fears and challenges as if workers might not return to the factories, thus hampering operation in future.
The scenario is turning in favour of industry due to the starting arrival of migrant labourers. The states, depending upon migrant workforce, such as Punjab, Haryana, Delhi-NCR, Gujarat, Kerala etc, have received around 40-45 % labourers back to factories by June end. With more news of return, industry expects to reach 50 to 55 % by July end, whereas manufacturing units located in states like UP, Bihar, West Bengal, Assam are having 75 to 80 percent of their workforce.
But, the scenario is turning in favour of industry due to the starting arrival of migrant labourers. The states, depending upon migrant workforce, such as Punjab, Haryana, Delhi-NCR, Gujarat, Kerala etc, have received around 40-45 % labourers back to factories by June end. With more news of return, industry expects to reach 50 to 55 % by July end, whereas manufacturing units located in states like UP, Bihar, West Bengal, Assam are having 75 to 80 percent of their workforce.
The building and interior projects have also started working to meet the extended timeline. Organised real estate and building material industry are getting advantage of government SOPS (Standard Operating Procedure for social distancing at workplace) and banking facilities, which is also helping the wood panel sector to win their confidence in such a difficult time. Conclusively, the wood & Wood panel industries are at nearly half in June hence some payment movement is also up. This recovery has brought some smiles in the market, and offered hope for better sustaining than previously anticipated.
This issue is very important, because a well researched market report on “PVC LAMINATE” has been featured. The special report on the Hardware Industry helps to learn wood panel dealers and emerging entrepreneurs. The interview with Mr. Pawan Garg, Director, Alstone Industry, is worth reading for the ACP sector. Besides, a lot of market news and reports have been published, which you can only find here, then its copy on Google. The Ply Reporter dares to publish its June issue, on objective to keep you update, informed so that you can make the right decision in such a difficult time, hence keep reading, be safe, and make your business safe !