The industrial picture

Four distinct packing briefs inside one city

Varanasi is one of the more interesting industrial buyers we ship to from Kerala. The city is known for spiritual tourism, but underneath that is a dense export economy: Banarasi silk woven in Madanpura and Lallapura, brassware and bell-metal pressed at Kazzakpura, handloom carpets coming up from the Bhadohi-Mirzapur belt 80 km south, and a growing engineering footprint around the UPSIDA estates at Chandpur and Karsara. Every one of those verticals needs the same repeatable input on the outbound side of the warehouse: dimensionally honest plywood, cut into export-ready crates, pallets and container floors. Most outside vendors treat Varanasi as a single market. On the ground it is at least four distinct industrial pockets, each with its own packing brief.

Silk and handloom (Madanpura, Lallapura, Peeli Kothi)

The Banarasi silk and brocade trade is a GI-tagged cluster with thousands of weavers feeding consolidators who export saris, dupattas, fabric rolls and made-ups to the Gulf, the US and the UK. Cargo is light by weight but extremely high-value per cubic metre, so the packing cases need to be moisture-controlled and visually presentable. Buyers in this sector usually ask for 12 mm and 15 mm BWR-grade packing ply with smooth, sound faces, frequently in non-standard sheet sizes to match standard sari-box and fabric-roll dimensions.

Brassware and metal handicraft (Kazzakpura, Thatheri Bazaar, Bhelupur)

Brass pooja items, urlis, bells, statues and decorative metalware ship in volumes that are deceptively heavy for their cubic footprint. A single 40 ft container of brassware can pack 22-24 tonnes of net weight, and the case walls have to take the shock of stacked metal during inland trucking to JNPT or Mundra. Here we see demand pivoting toward 18 mm packing-grade ply with hardwood corner posts and ISPM-15 stamped sawn-timber dunnage.

Handloom carpets (Bhadohi-Mirzapur belt, served via Varanasi)

The Bhadohi-Mirzapur carpet belt south of Varanasi is the largest hand-knotted carpet cluster in India and exports through Varanasi-based consolidators. Carpet rolls are long, awkward and prone to crushing if a pallet deck flexes mid-transit. Pallet decks here want full 12 mm or 15 mm plywood tops rather than slatted softwood, and many exporters now insist on heat-treated, ISPM-15 marked timber for the frame.

UPSIDA engineering belt (Chandpur, Karsara, Ramnagar)

The Uttar Pradesh State Industrial Development Authority estates around Chandpur and Karsara host engineering units, pump assemblers, transformer fabricators and food-grade machinery makers. Their packing problem is the classic heavy-engineering one: irregular cast iron and steel weights, point-loading on the case floor, and the need for sea-grade crates rather than transit crates.

What we ship

The outbound mix to Uttar Pradesh

Our outbound mix to Uttar Pradesh, and specifically to Varanasi-bound buyers, breaks down roughly as follows. Numbers shift each quarter but the proportions are stable.

Container flooring is a smaller but growing line — exporters consolidating their own 20 ft and 40 ft boxes from Varanasi ICDs occasionally need replacement floorboards or one-time-use sea-grade panels to line the container before stuffing. Okoume here is a face-veneer option on our packing and BWR grades, not a separate grade: it buys a lighter, cleaner face at equivalent strength where presentation matters.

Logistics

The Kochi-to-Varanasi lane

The 2,200 km lane from Perumbavoor to Varanasi is one of the longer hauls we run, but it is a well-understood corridor with two practical routes.

1. Road-direct (preferred for plywood and crates): Kochi to Bangalore on NH-544, then NH-44 north through Hyderabad, Nagpur and Jabalpur, joining NH-19 at Allahabad/Prayagraj and into Varanasi. Transit time runs 6-8 days for a full truckload (32 ft single-axle or 22 ft container truck), 9-10 days in monsoon. We typically dispatch 800-1,200 sheets per truck depending on thickness and packing density.
2. Containerised via JNPT/Hazira: Useful when the consignee wants to consolidate plywood with other Kerala-origin cargo, or when monthly volumes justify a 20 ft box. Sea leg Cochin port to JNPT is 4-5 days, plus inland container haul to Varanasi (DPD or via Mughalsarai). Total door-to-door usually beats road only when the buyer is already coordinating other sea-freight.

For most Varanasi packing-case fabricators we have found road-direct is faster and cheaper unless they are taking 25+ tonnes a month. We quote freight separately, ex-Perumbavoor, with GST and transport extra, so the buyer sees the landed cost clearly. On the export side, plywood itself is exempt from ISPM-15 under the standard's processed-wood clause; the sawn-timber components — case frames, skids and dunnage — are heat-treated and stamped when the buyer flags export end-use at the time of order.

Choosing a grade

Which grade for which Varanasi load

Use our packing-grade ply when

• Cargo is domestic-bound or to nearby Gulf markets with a single sea leg
• The case will be opened within 60-90 days of fabrication
• The buyer is cost-sensitive — silk consolidators, mid-range brassware, carpet pallet decks

Use Okoume-faced ply when

• Cargo is premium handicraft going to EU or US end-buyers who inspect packaging condition
• The case itself is part of the presentation (gift packaging, museum-grade brass, archival textiles)
• Climate exposure during transit is high — the Okoume face keeps case weight down at equivalent strength

Use shuttering ply when

• The buyer is a builder or formwork contractor working on Varanasi's expanding hospitality and infra footprint along the Ring Road and Sarnath belt
• Re-use cycles matter more than face finish

For the engineering crates at UPSIDA Chandpur, we usually recommend a hybrid: 18 mm packing-grade ply for the case walls, hardwood sawn timber for the skids and corner posts, and ISPM-15 marked dunnage where the consignment is sea-freight.

FAQ

Common questions from Varanasi buyers

Do you ship in less-than-truckload quantities to Varanasi?

Yes, but the freight economics are noticeably worse on a 2,200 km lane below about 400 sheets. For a single-pallet sample we suggest combining with another buyer in the same belt or accepting the part-load premium. A full truck of 800-1,200 sheets is typically the cleanest order size.

Is the plywood ISPM-15 compliant out of the box?

Plywood itself is exempt from ISPM-15 under the standard's processed-wood clause. Sawn-timber components — case frames, skids, dunnage — need to be heat-treated and stamped, which we arrange when the buyer flags export end-use at the time of order.

What is the minimum sheet thickness for a packing case carrying brassware?

For brassware crates over 200 kg net, we generally recommend 15 mm minimum for the side walls and 18 mm for the case floor, with hardwood corner posts. Below 200 kg net, 12 mm walls with a 15 mm floor is workable and saves on packing weight.

Get a quote

Get a quote for your Varanasi project

If you are fabricating cases for the Banarasi silk trade, packing brassware out of Kazzakpura, building pallet decks for the Bhadohi carpet belt, or crating engineering loads from the UPSIDA estates, we can quote you a delivered Varanasi rate against your sheet schedule. Everything ships from our own facilities in Perumbavoor, where the CWI group has manufactured plywood since 1986. Share thickness, sheet count, monthly run rate and delivery point — we will come back with a proforma and a realistic transit window. Request a quote directly, or read more technical detail in our resource hub on packing-case construction and grade selection.