Like other big and small sectors, plywood and associated industries have also got badly affected due to the corona outbreak. We all know that the pandemic has made the Global villages witness the economical downfall. Covid-19 has taken a toll by the death of people and setting back the economy harshly. As per the Centre’s report, the Indian plywood market reached a value of US$ 4.4 Billion in 2018 and was further expected to reach a value of US$ 5.7 Billion by 2024. But now, the situation is worse and we can’t predict the recovery of nearly collapsed industries.
Talking about the lockdown phase in India, during this period many business persons and entrepreneurs and communities appealed to the government to give some leverage to them for running firms and also asked for financial support because completely shutting the companies for consistently 2-3 months was a concern. The government considered their requests and with some specific rules and restrictions, they got a permit to open their offices and units with limited employees.
Specifically, the timber and plywood selling hub of Haryana are Yamuna Nagar where more than 300 plywood manufacturing companies are active have suffered the most. They were trying and still trying to seek relaxations in many aspects from government and other regulatory authorities. For instance, after one month of lockdown which means in April 2020, the plywood association of Yamuna Nagar came forward with a list of demands in front of the government.
Some of their demands were, opening of the units within the MC limits for two-three days so that they can check raw material, including wood, glue, and other chemicals; assistance from the central government to export Indian plywood and furniture to the Middle East and European countries, deferment of loan installments, an extension of license expiry period and waiving off the moratorium period interest.
The government and district administration (Yamuna Nagar) offered them a bit of relaxation by acknowledging their appeals. As timber, plywood, and wood the based industry provides packaging material to pharma companies, FMCG, and other companies producing essential commodities therefore it was important to take care and issue a plan to run these sectors without any obstacle.
Conforsply is one of the topmost plywood product providers is in the city and a credibly known brand in plywood manufacturing across India also faced a tough time. It is one of the well-known names in the plywood industry which hails from Yamuna Nagar district of Haryana was not untouched with this lockdown impact.
Amid this situation, due to extended consumer reach and trustworthy brand name in the market conforsply somehow managed to survive and tried to cope up with this hard situation. Constant communication with consumers through social media, a better relationship with distributors, and credibility in the market helped this firm to survive during this phase of the crisis.
Let it be known that conforsply offers a reliable range of quality plywood which includes various types such as commercial plywood, blockboard, flush door, marine plywood, shuttering plywood, and calibrated plywood respectively. Conforsply is a pioneer in delivering high-quality plywood especially pine blockboard and pine flush doors. As it supplies plywood to the major States of India, therefore, has earned a deserved reputation in the market. Confornsply has maintained its online presence effectively for a very long time which helped a lot in this lockdown phase to make its presence visible.
During lockdown there was no sell and the market was on complete halt so, online mode became the only option to deal with it. You can say this new normal in people’s life opened the new dimensions of communication and online business. Many plywood and timber firms were operating offline prior to lockdown but after that, they started taking orders online and went for contactless deliveries. Now, most of the companies are doing the same and balanced themselves in the situation of being collapsed. Obviously there has been a mismatch in demand and supply cycle due to Covid-19 condition but people are struggling to find a way for survival which is appreciable.
Due to this horrifying pandemic condition, many people including laborers have been unemployed who were associated with timber or plywood industry. The exodus of workers has affected the functioning of the plywood industry, which largely depends on the migrant workforce.
The production in plywood the industry has been reduced to half after the exodus of the migrant workforce started during the lockdown. Summer seems the best season for the plywood industry to make up the revenue and Monsoon is the lean season. In between the disease, outbreak has jeopardized the expectations of laborers and manufacturers both.
The prices of raw materials had seen an upsurge during the lockdown as finding containers were difficult. Initially executing contact fewer deliveries were a hard task that was also one of the factors in boosting price hikes. There were possible chances of contamination of plywood with coronavirus so, workers were told to stop their work, as a result of unemployment they returned to their hometown/native places. Now, this became another crisis as if there would be no workers then industries will still remain at a slow pace and can not resume their work efficiently.
On the basis of end-use, the market can be bifurcated as commercial and residential sectors.
The residential sector is the largest consumer for Indian plywood, accounting for more than half of the total shares. If we take a glance in the past decades, the expenditure on furniture had elevated as a result of increasing incomes, urbanization, investment in real estate, property selling, modern house designs, western influence, etc. Among all factors, the introduction of new designs and diverse product range of furniture has assisted a lot in creating a demand among the consumers. Expanding distribution network and exclusive outlets of furniture manufacturers in the region have also helped in influencing the market for plywood.
It took a decade to build the growing pace of the plywood market but complete break for 2-3 months in the market due to a pandemic will take so much time to regain its strength. We all are hoping that these industries which are the backbone of our nation will gain their growth strength, grip over the market and earn support from everyone in order to hold the economy strongly.
