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 Woodstock Laminates Reaches Rajasthan

Woodstock laminates In process of its expansion now has reached to Rajasthan, On Sunday 29th August 2010 at Hotel “LIBRA” in Pink City “JAIPUR” In presence of more than 150 dealers MD , Mr. Rajnish Arora  announced his arrival in this state and also appointed ..Mr.Dinesh Haldia of “WOOD MICA” as the Distributor for Rajasthan.V.P(Vice President) Mr.Ajay Thamman, Director of Woodstock Plywood Mr.Shethi, Mr.Atul Gupta (President, Rajasthan Plywood & Laminate association),Mr.Govind Gupta( Wood Mica) Was also present on this occasion.

Speaking to Ply-Reporter MD,Mr Rajnish said “ Rajasthan as state  has developed rapidly and thus we wanted to catch this market, in future same is target in other states”

VP, Mr. Ajay Thamman said “We are focused on our quality & services part and this is what Woodstock is known for, here also we will do the same”.

Distributor for Rajasthan Mr.Dinesh Haldia said “We will achieve our targets & maintain best service to fulfill the responsibly which my team has got.”

 President assures to grant assistance to Haryana Plywood industry

Hon’ble President of India Mrs. Pratibha Patil has assured the Haryana Plywood industry that the government would look into the problems of state’s plywood industry. She gave the pledge to the delegation of state industrialist comprising Mr. Ashok Goel, Managing Director of GMG Industries, Yamunanagar, who represented the plywood industry that she would consider the all related matter given in the memorandum.

Mr. Goel told The Ply Reporter that he represented a memorandum to the President through which he said, “Plywood industry in Haryana is under Agriculture produce. It should be exempted from Forest rules. Total business of 10 crores of small and medium industry should be exempted from excise. Goods and Service tax (GST) is to be implemented from year 2011.This decision should be taken carefully. Before its implementation, the country should be computerized online. GST should not be more than 10 % in total. Neither, it is going to promote corruption and it will affect the economy of our country”.

Mr. Goel told that the President listened to their problem carefully and promised to help on all fronts. Delegation comprised with industrialists of Haryana from different agriculture sectors including Mr. Bijender Goel, Former Special Representative (MOS), Government of Jharkhand, New Delhi.

 Timber rates would be fixed

With a view to providing timber at a fixed rate to plywood-based industries in the district, the state government has purchased 20 acres land in Manakpur industrial area for a timber market that will soon become operational.

 "Due to lack of any platform such as a timber market, there has been no fixed rate of timber, including eucalyptus and poplar, in the state," said the state principal chief conservator of forests, Dr Parvez Ahmed, in Yamunanagar.

The demand for the raw material has increased manifold in the industries here. Farmers of the state have been fulfilling only 40 per cent timber need of the plywood industry and the industry has been getting rest of the timber from Uttar Pardesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand.

"There is no restriction or regulation under the Indian Forest Act in terms of felling and transport of wood in Haryana and this has provided the required impetus for large-scale plantations by institutions and individuals in areas outside forest. Only a small area in the foothills of Shivaliks and Aravallis has restrictions regarding the felling of trees under the Punjab Land Preservation Act (1900), but even in these areas there is no restriction in felling and transport of agro forestry produce like eucalyptus and poplar," he added.

  HPMA announces prices hike by 10% at Yamuna Nagar

Haryana Plywood Manufacturers Association (HPMA) held a meeting on 26th July, 2010 in Yamunanagar to discuss the challenge faced by industry due to steep hike in the prices of all raw materials including the rates of timber, phenol, production cost etc. The Agenda of the meeting was how to survive in presence situation of plywood industry in the state. Association presented a fact sheet about the steep price hike of Timber as poplar and eucalyptus using for the manufacturing of Plywood, Block Board, and Shuttering Ply etc. Association observed that the steep hike in prices compelled us to increase the rate up to 10% on Plywood and Film Faced Shuttering Plywood & 5% on Block board with immediate effect.

Mr. Davender Chawla, President of HPMA informed The Ply Reporter about the decision taken by Association and appealed the members for the implementation of new rates with immediate effects. The meeting was attended by more than 100 manufacturers of the state including Mr. S.K. Agarwal, Mr. J.K. Bihani, Mr. Rajneesh Arora, Mr. Sandeep Jindal and others.

 Plantation timber prices touch record high

Plantation timber prices have touched an all time high in the second half of July, 2010. The prices have gone up by around 30 percent being affected by various factors mainly related to the time of the year. In terms of specifics, the two major segments of plantation timber poplar and eucalyptus have seen a jump of 25 to 30 percent and 20 to 25 percent, respectively. The increase can be mainly attributed to the arrival of monsoons which usually leads to a shortage in timber as the felling and transportation of the same becomes difficult in the season.

  The manufacturers from Yamunanagar also speculate that timber merchants and contractors are trying to preempt the timber shortage by manipulating the market. As per industry analysts, the timber merchants and contractors have anticipated a shortage of timber and hence are hoarding the production in order to reap better profits when the prices rise. However, their hoarding in view of better profits later has lead to the prices go up.

  Some industry people say that the all speculation about the normal timber supply has failed. Besides this, the analysts from North Indian plywood industry expect that the supply scenario will be better after October of this year. Manufacturers blame that their profit margins have been eaten by the present hike of timber prices.   

 Plywood prices up by 10% in south

South Indian Small Scale Plywood Manufacturers Association has unanimously decided to increase the price of Plywood, Block board and Flush Doors by 10 % with immediate effect after an Emergency Meeting held on 13th July 2010 at Mangalore. Association has requested all members strictly to adhere to the decision in order to save the industry from collapse. This price increase is valid for 30 days only and the decision of further price increase will be taken at our next meeting in August 2010.
 
Association has given the following reason behind this decision:

1) The prices of Raw material namely Timber for Block Board Battens and for Peeling has gone up by 30 % in the last 3 months. Further there is acute shortage of timber due to stoppage of timber transportation by the Deputy Commissioner from Chickmagalur and Sakaleshpur, and the prices are shooting up on a day to day basis. Most of our Member units are starving from want of Raw Material. Today it is not the price but the availability which is the main concern of our member Units.
2) Price of Fuel Wood used for the Boiler has increased by 30% in the last 3 months.
3) The price of Diesel for D.G. Sets has gone up by 10%. Due to frequent load Shedding and power break downs D.G. sets are needed to be run for more and more time there by consuming more diesel.
4) There is an acute shortage of labour and hence to retain the exist labour, Wages have to be increased and the production has come down drastically resulting in higher overheads.

 Punjab Plywood prices hike by 7 %

Punjab Plywood Manufacturers Association (PPMA) has raised prices of plywood and board by 7 per cent in the state following the surge in input costs. "The input prices primarily of wood has gone up by 25 to 35 per cent in last four months, has forced us to raise the prices of plywood and board by seven per cent with immediate effect in the State," Punjab Plywood Manufacturers Association (PPMA) official said. According to plywood makers, the rates of wood made of eucalyptus and poplar trees have shot up considerably in the past few months because of shortage. "Rates of eucalyptus wood have jumped up to 30%, while prices of poplar tree has increased up to 25%," they said.

The industry urged the State government to encourage farmers to grow more trees of eucalyptus and poplar in order to control the rising prices of wood. Punjab manufacturers have also blamed the illegal diversion of wood to neighbouring states of Haryana, by unscrupulous dealers through tax evasion. "If the state excise and taxation department keep a strict check on borders, then this illegal supply of wood to other states can be restricted to a great extent," General Secretary of PPMA said. Punjab has about 165 plywood manufacturers operating at various locations, including Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur and Nawanshahar.

 Film Faced Ply prices hike to 8 %.

Held a meeting on 5th May in Yamunanager, producers of film faced shuttering plywood has announced to increase prices after a detailed analysis on costing. Blaming to sharp increase in phenol prices manufacturers have compelled to hike the prices of all kind of shuttering plywood up to 8 %. The meeting was called by Haryana Plywood Manufacturers Association to discuss the losses incurred by plants.

 About 30 manufacturers of Film faced plywood from Haryana and Punjab took part in the meeting and anonymously decided to increase the price hike with immediate effect. The manufacturers told that the price of Phenol has increased and increasing production cost trend has forced them to take the decision of price hike.

In this meeting the members and office bearers of HPMA Mr. Devender Chawla (President), Prof. S.K  Agarwal, Mr.Rajnish Arora, Mr. Narender Bansal, Mr.Sanjiv Gupta, Mr. Rajiv Gupta, Mr. Bhuvnesh Bansal, Mr Pradip, Mr. Gaurav Chopal etc were present. Apart from this Mr. Mahesh Gupta & Mr. Baldev Singh from Punjab took part in meeting.

 What is hitting Yamunanagar Ply production?

Yamunanagar & Jagadhri plywood manufacturers held a meeting dated 21/04/10 in Gymkhana club,  Yamunanagar. Almost all the manufacturers attended the meeting. Meeting’s agenda was how to survive in present condition with such raw material crisis. Due to steep hike in raw materials like phenol 25%, labour 15%, petcock 40%, firewood 20%, diesel, units are running in losses. Due to labour shortage they are facing production loss also. They are not able to find the alternate of the common timber generally used. Import is also costlier & quality & time also matters. Due to present situation, they all agreed for 10% rise in all products for smooth working. They also agreed to take Rs.5/quintle as loading charges.

Yamunaplynagar Member’s views -

1. Devender Chawala (Emm Dee Plywood) : Association should be more strong. We have to speak with govt. about the problems. Mandi process should be in proper manner.

2. Ashwani Kaushik (Shree Ram Industries) : If units get costly raw material & not increasing finished good’s price then units are going to be in huge loss & survival is not possible. most of the industry people are thinking that dealers will not accept the rates but all the trade from all over India know that raw material prices are rising daily. Low quality finished goods also effect on our product’s price; we have to aware trade people about product quality.

3. Prof. Shravan (Futuristic Sales Pvt. Ltd) : Safeda is much better then Gurjan because Gurjan could be destroyed by extreme heat but Safeda remains fine. We have to highlight our product strength & wood quality for getting good price. No state can supply plywood more than Yamuna Nagar in plywood.

4. Rajneesh Arora (wood stock) : Association should keep minimum price list so no one can sell below those rates.

5. Heeralal Sharma (Bharti plywood) : Yamunanagar industry main bahut strength hai par yaha ke logo ko jagane ki jarurat hai, jaise hanumanji ki shaktiyo ke bare mai bhi jagaya gaya tha.

- (Collected & compiled by Dinesh Dev, Ply Reporter)

 VAT To Put Weight on Delhi Wood and Panel Trade

The Delhi governments finance minister, Mr A K Walia unveiled a budget on 22nd march that hiked taxes on 32 products to get additional revenue generation of Rs.850 crore. Many wood based products including wood and furniture got an added percentage that rose from 5% to 12.5%. The proposed increase on VAT from 5% to 12.5 % on wood, plywood, laminated boards, household plastic goods, locks, furniture, door & window fittings, fibre & plastic boards, wire & metal mesh is going to make things trickier for the wood and panel trade in Delhi and will also affect the manufacturers working style with Delhi.
 
Earlier the VAT was 4 % on various items except decorative laminates which was at 12.5 % vat. Delhi enterprise and traders