The plywood industry of Yamunanagar district is getting a tough competition from the plywood units of Kerala and Nepal.
Due to the availability of raw material (wood) in abundance, the rates of plywood in Kerala and Nepal are lower than in Yamunanagar.
These days, the industry in Yamunanagar is not getting poplar wood in required quantity, as farmers of Uttar Pradesh have found new market in numerous plywood factories that have come up in their state in the past years. Earlier, farmers of Uttar Pradesh used to cater to about 80 per cent demand of the Yamunanagar industry.
Production cost high
Nepal is now exporting plywood to India at a very cheap and competitive rate and because of high cost of production at Yamunanagar plywood units, they are unable to face the competition given to them by Nepal plywood. —Anil Garg, Plywood manufacture, Yamunanagar
Ban import from Nepal
Our demand is immediate ban on the import of Nepal plywood by the Centre and removal of 2 per cent market fee on poplar and eucalyptus wood in Haryana. —JK Bihani, President, Haryana plywood manufacturers association
As per available information, rubber wood, which is very cheap as compared to poplar, is available in abundance in Kerala and is the main raw material for plywood manufacturing there.
“ The18 mm basis plywood of Kerala is available for about Rs 42-44 per sq ft. Nepal’s plywood is also available for Rs 35-40 per sq ft here. But, the rates of this plywood size in Yamunanagar industry are Rs 48-55 per sq ft,” said a plywood trader. According to information, the required wood is not only easily available in Nepal, but also available at a cheap rate.
Anil Garg, a plywood manufacture of Yamunanagar district, said earlier, the plywood units of Yamunanagar district used to export plywood to Nepal.“Nepal is now exporting plywood to India at a very cheap and competitive rate and because of the high cost of production at Yamunanagar plywood units, they are unable to face the competition given to them by Nepal plywood,” said Anil Garg.
Sources said the plywood industry of Yamunanagar needed more than 2 lakh quintals of poplar wood daily. But, this industry had been getting a supply of about 1 lakh quintal daily.
Following a huge gap between demand and supply, now the rate of poplar wood has also witnessed a huge jump of up to Rs 500 per quintal in the past three-four months. Earlier, the rate of 12 to 17-inch diameter poplar wood was about Rs 800 per quintal a year ago (in January 2022), but now, the rate of this size wood has reached between Rs 1,300 and Rs 1,400 per quintal in the past few months. As per available information, besides 350 plywood factories, Yamunanagar district also has about 700 peeling factories, saw mills and chipper factories. JK Bihani, president of Haryana Plywood Manufacturers Association, said, “Our demand is immediate ban on the import of Nepal plywood by the Centre and removal of 2 per cent market fee on poplar and eucalyptus wood in Haryana.” Courtesy: www.tribuneindia.com