The addition of new plants in wood panel segment after delicensing wood based units across country by the government set to create demand boom for logs in 2018. The supply of timber will be inadequate if all plants begin to operate by mid May or June 2018. The Ply Reporter anticipate a sharp rise in timber and log prices in North India because availability will reduce. By September 2018, the timber prices can witness a 20-25% rise compared to December 2017.
The establishment of 15 new particle board and MDF plants will add a tremendous demand for plantation logs by 2018 September. The major impact will be witnessed on eucalyptus as it has more demand than its regular plantation. The emerging scenario might not be favorable for plants located in Delhi-NCR, Rajasthan and even Haryana due to new units emerging in UP.
The impact on timber supply to Yamuna Nagar can also pose a significant shortage by next year end because a major supply that goes from UP will be consumed in Uttar Pradesh itself. Year 2018 specially after September does not look very healthy and optimistic for the wood based industries because of imbalance in demand and supply Vs Prices of finished products in 2018.