The industrial picture

What Duqm is actually building

Duqm has moved faster than most procurement teams expected. A decade ago it was a fishing town on the Arabian Sea; today it is SEZAD, the Special Economic Zone at Duqm, with a drydock running heavy MRO contracts, a 230,000 bpd refinery commissioned, a green-hydrogen ecosystem under build-out, and a deep-water port that has reshaped how Gulf cargo moves. For an Indian plywood manufacturer that produces a very specific demand pattern: heavy, high-value, often awkwardly shaped equipment that has to leave a fabrication shop, survive an ocean leg, clear customs, and reach a site address inside SEZAD without damage. That is a crate-and-pallet problem, and it is the workflow our packing-grade plywood, sawn timber and shuttering ply are built around.

If you are sourcing packaging into Duqm, it helps to know which clusters generate the orders. The footprint is wider than most one-line summaries suggest.

• Duqm Drydock — two graving docks and a regional hub for large-vessel and naval refits. MRO work means heavy spares, replacement valves, propeller assemblies and turbine sections moving in and out, almost all of it in heavy-duty wooden crates.
• Duqm refinery and petrochemical cluster — the 230,000 bpd refinery and its downstream petchem expansion mean a continuous flow of catalysts, instrumentation, spare pumps and compressor parts. Catalyst drums, instrument transmitters and rotating equipment all need crate-grade ply or pallet-mounted boxes.
• Green hydrogen and renewables belt — green-H2 and ammonia projects bring in electrolyser stacks, transformers and module skids from European and Asian fabricators, all requiring export-grade crating.
• Heavy industry, steel and minerals — a large steel plant's expansion, vehicle CKD assembly lines, and the cement and mining feedstock corridor all pull pallet volumes for component movement inside the zone.
• Fisheries and food-processing cluster — at the southern edge of SEZAD, this sector runs on hardwood pallets and lighter crates for export consignments to GCC retail.
• Port of Duqm and logistics corridor — the dry port, container freight stations, and the Duqm–Thumrait–Salalah road link generate pallet demand for re-stuffing and warehousing.

Each cluster has different unit economics. The drydock and refinery generate low-volume, high-value, heavy crates. Green-H2 EPC contractors generate spikes of large, awkward modules. The fisheries and logistics layers generate steady pallet pull-through. A manufacturer that can move across all three formats has the easier conversation.

What we ship

The range we manufacture for Duqm

Our group has worked in Perumbavoor since 1986, and the bulk of that run has been in packing-grade plywood and sawn timber for industrial packaging. That is the foundation under what we send to Oman.

Packing-grade plywood — the workhorse

For Duqm crate makers and in-plant packing departments, our MR-Packing range carries most of the volume. Indicative ex-factory rates (GST and freight extra) for the commercial / rubberwood packing grade:

Okoume face plywood

Where the cargo is being re-exported to European buyers, or where the EPC tender specifies a smoother, lighter face with a cleaner appearance, the Okoume option moves up. Okoume is a face-veneer option on our MR-Packing and BWR cores, not a separate grade, and it changes weight, finish and price. We quote Okoume separately on request because the spec depends on what is being shipped.

Crates, pallets and container flooring

• Heavy-duty equipment crates — built around 15 mm and 18 mm panels with hardwood frames, designed for 1–10 tonne payloads, the typical refinery-spare and drydock-part envelope.
• Standard export pallets — four-way entry, with 1200x1000 mm and 1100x1100 mm the two formats most Duqm logistics terminals handle without slowing down.
• Heat-treated and ISPM-15 marked — required for any wood entering Oman; a non-negotiable customs reality and a frequent rejection cause if the supplier is not set up for it.
• Container flooring and skids — 18 mm and thicker for replacement floor sections, machinery skids, and roll-on roll-off staging.
• Sawn timber — jackwood at INR 400/cft (¼-inch minus tolerance) and rubberwood runners for cleats, gussets and skid construction.

Logistics

Kochi to Duqm

The distance from Kochi to Duqm is roughly 1,700 nautical miles by sea. Container services routed via transhipment hubs typically land cargo in Duqm in 14 to 21 days from Cochin port, depending on the carrier and connection point. Break-bulk and project cargo can also load at Kochi for direct GCC sailings. For most plywood, crate and pallet shipments we work on FOB Cochin or CFR Duqm terms; the buyer chooses the incoterm based on whether they already have a freight forwarder on the lane.

Two operational notes worth flagging:

• ISPM-15 documentation has to travel with the shipment, not arrive separately by email. We mark and certify at packing, not at port.
• Moisture content is a real issue on the Kochi–Duqm leg. Kerala monsoon stock that has not been kiln-dried below 12% MC can develop fungal staining in the container during transit. We dry-stack and condition material before despatch for this reason.

Choosing a grade

Which spec for which Duqm load

Use packing-grade (MR-Packing)

When the cargo is internal-zone movement, MRO spares moving between drydock and fabrication shop, fisheries and food-cluster pallets, and standard refinery-spares packing. This is the default for most SEZAD packaging tenders.

Use Okoume-faced ply

When the receiver is a European fabricator (common for green-H2 module re-export), when the crate will be photographed and audited, or when weight per panel matters and a cleaner face is specified. Okoume sits about 15–25% above commercial packing on price.

Use shuttering ply

When the customer is a SEZAD civil contractor casting foundations, jetty extensions, refinery tankage pads, or zone road formwork, not a packaging buyer. Different conversation, different spec sheet.

FAQ

Common questions on Duqm shipments

Do you ship ISPM-15 certified wood to Oman?

Yes. All crates, pallets and sawn timber going to Duqm leave Kochi heat-treated and stamped per ISPM-15. Phytosanitary certification is arranged at port. Customs in Oman rejects untreated wood at inspection, so we do not ship any other way.

What is the minimum order size for a Duqm shipment?

The practical minimum is one 20-foot container, roughly 500–650 sheets of 18 mm packing ply, or a mixed load of crates and pallets. Smaller orders can ride as LCL through Cochin port, but the per-unit freight cost usually does not work out in the buyer's favour below half a container.

Can you build to a SEZAD contractor's drawing?

Yes. Most refinery and drydock spares ship in custom crates against an outline drawing and a weight statement. Share the drawing, weight, lifting points and any sea-fastening requirements, and we quote against the build.

Get a quote

Send us your load list

If you are sourcing packing-grade plywood, ISPM-15 crates, pallets or container flooring for a project inside SEZAD, or you are an EPC contractor mobilising into the Duqm refinery, drydock or green-H2 belt, we can quote against your panel mix, crate drawings or pallet schedule. We manufacture in Perumbavoor, where our group has operated since 1986. Send through the load list, the destination address inside the zone, and the timeline, and we will come back with FOB Cochin and CFR Duqm options.

Start by sharing your spec on the request a quote page, or browse specifications, grade comparisons and packing-case guidance in the resource hub before you build the BOQ.