North India Plywood industries have badly hit due to steep rise in cost of Core Veneer for plywood and door units. The prices of core veneers have witnessed an increase beyond 25% within last 4 months in Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.
The timber availability is reported to be highly squeezed and wood-based industries are forced to purchase logs of poplar and eucalyptus of lower girth on higher rates. The scarcity and disturbed availability has been a regular scene throughout last year irrespective of any wood specie. Plywood producer based in Yamunanagar feel, that core veneer cost is now forcing us to stop production.
The poplar prices have crossed 1100 mark this year where as Eucalyptus is hovering around 750 levels for high quality timbers. As per report, the prices in Kerala for rubber wood are also up on similar levels. Whereas the Core Prices for Vishakhapatnam and Kolkata based Plywood industries are reported to be comparatively lower than North India based units. In southern belts of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and even in areas of Karnataka, the cost of core veneer is 18% cheaper compared to the price in the North at present. The changing dynamics is helping the other regional units but pushing the North based plywood plants to the cliff edge.
The arrival of new wood-based industries in Punjab, Haryana and expansions happening in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand is certainly pushing towards higher imbalance for Plywood Industries for another 2-3 years. The Ply Reporter foresees timber crisis hitting plywood industries at the most because the plywood market is not supporting the price increase in plywood category so far. To make the North Industry sustain, the price rise of 12 to 14% is inevitable, whether it happens now or then.