There is bad news again, for the entire wood panel and decorative laminates industry due to re-surging prices of Melamine. Actually, this is a full-blown crisis where particularly laminate manufacturing industries are staring at a temporary closure or partial shutdown. The sudden ups and downs in melamine prices create panic buying as cost escalate. Pre-orders that are in pipeline with factory owners, and their commitment to fulfil material where rising raw material cost is a direct loss actually lead to panic among trade and industries. On the same fashion, last year, Melamine prices rose from 130 to 150 then 170, 200 and steadily crossed 300 within a year.
Many of the laminate manufacturing plants are disturbed due to unstable melamine prices every alternate month. If the situation does not stabilise, few of the factories might opt for shutdown or halting the supplies of materials due to urgency and price rise. HPL manufacturers are hoping for some solution from imports, but as of now, there is no hope of improvement seen.
Government of India has imposed Anti-Dumping duty on imports of Melamine from European Union, Japan, Qatar and United Arab Emirates. The recent decision of Government to impose Anti Dumping Duty on imports of Melamine would add to another challenging spell for Laminate sector.
Melamine is used for making melamine formaldehyde resin, which in turn is majorly used in producing Laminates, Plywood, MDF, Particle Boards etc. Melamine formaldehyde resins used for good hardness, resistance to scratch, stain, water and heat. The ply reporter finding indicate that Melamine consumption has increased much during last 4 years due to massive expansion in production capacities of Decorative Laminates, MDF, Plywood and Particle Boards.