The far end of our export map
Chile is the one South American market on our export list, and the longest sea leg we quote. Our group has worked timber at Perumbavoor, Kerala since 1986, and the factories sit about 40 km from Cochin Port, where the container is stuffed, sealed and gated in. Everything after that gate is a long time for a panel to be in a steel box.
So the specification does more work on this lane than on any short one. Colombo is a 2-4 day sail, where a wrong bond grade is an annoyance; on a voyage of weeks it is a container of damaged stock you cannot economically send back. The sections below are about the two decisions that survive the distance: what the panel is made of, and what the paperwork says. The export hub lists every other lane we run from this port.
What we ship to Chile
Thirteen product lines press in the same cluster and load from the same port. These are the ones we would put in front of a first-time buyer on this lane; the rest are in the catalogue.
| Product | Build | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| BWR hardwood plywood | Boiling-water-resistant bond | Humid and coastal service; the default where a long voyage is followed by damp storage. |
| Marine plywood | IS 710, BWP bond | Boat work, coastal construction, wet areas. |
| Commercial plywood | MR or BWR bond | Furniture, shopfitting, doors and general joinery. |
| Film-faced shuttering plywood | Phenolic film face, made for repeated pours | Slab and column formwork. |
| Packing-grade plywood | MR bond, IS 303 | 6, 8, 12, 15 and 18 mm are the usual thicknesses. Cases, crating and pallet decks. |
| Calibrated Okoume-face panel | Okoume face, eucalyptus core, E1 glue line available | 16 mm at about 32 kg a sheet, bare or HPL-laminated. Furniture and joinery. |
Mixed loads are normal. A container split across two or three of these lines is a standard order, not a special request — and on a lane this long, consolidating the year's requirement into fewer, fuller containers is usually the cheaper arithmetic.
Specify the bond for the voyage, not for the shelf
MR is a moisture-resistant bond, not a waterproof one. It is the right board for dry interior packing and it is the wrong board to put through weeks of sea air and then store in a damp yard. Where the panel will sit in humid conditions after it lands, specify BWR; where it will actually be wet, IS 710 BWP marine. Our note on BWR versus BWP for export packing sets out where each bond stops, and it was written for exactly this problem.
Panels are palletised and strapped for sea transit. Plywood is dense and weighs out before it cubes out: a 40 ft container loaded to its roughly 26.7-tonne ship-line payload with 12 mm sheets fills only about 60% of its 67 cubic metres, so the weighbridge sets the sheet count. We load to the lower of that payload and the road limit at your end, so tell us the limit on your inland leg and the count is set against it on the proforma invoice. The arithmetic is on the container weight guide.
Routing: we quote the panel, you choose the voyage
We quote FOB Cochin. You or your forwarder nominate the vessel and the routing, and we deliver export-cleared goods on board at Cochin Port. CFR or CIF is quoted where agreed, against the freight the routing you choose actually attracts.
We do not publish a transit time for this lane. The service and any transhipment your forwarder books is what decides it, and on the longest lane we run a made-up number would be the most expensive thing on the page. What we do put in writing on the proforma invoice is the schedule at our end: production lead time, the inspection window before loading, stuffing at the factory and gate-in at Cochin Port.
Import essentials for Chile
What your clearing agent needs to land a plywood shipment. We quote FCA or FOB Cochin in USD; duty and any tax at import are added on the destination side.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| HS code | Heading 4412 (the national item within 4412.31 / 4412.33 / 4412.34 / 4412.39 turns on panel construction and individual ply thickness as well as face species, and finished cases, pallets and drums are generally considered under 4415 — your agent confirms the line) |
| Customs duty | Chile applies its general (MFN) customs duty of 6% ad valorem on the CIF value for plywood under HS 4412 — the India–Chile Preferential Trade Agreement (in force since 2007, expanded 16 May 2017) is a positive-list agreement, and plywood is not among the wood-chapter lines Chile has offered India a preference on, so the flat MFN rate applies with no antidumping or safeguard surcharge layered on top. IVA (VAT) is charged separately at 19% on the customs value plus duty. A broader India-Chile trade agreement (CEPA) is under negotiation but not yet in force, so it has no bearing on the rate payable today. Your clearing agent confirms the exact tariff line and the rate in force at the time of entry. |
| Plant health / biosecurity | For manufactured plywood, Chile’s SAG (Servicio Agrícola y Ganadero) treats the standard production process — veneer peeling, kiln-drying, gluing and hot-pressing — as sufficient treatment in its own right, placing plywood in Category 1 under Resolución Exenta No. 1.284/2021. Category 1 goods do not require a phytosanitary certificate, import permit or additional declaration at entry, so none is needed for the panels themselves, provided the commercial invoice and packing list clearly describe the process, since SAG inspectors retain discretion to request documentation. This exemption covers the plywood cargo only: any wood packaging used to ship it (pallets, crating, dunnage) is separately subject to Chile’s standard ISPM-15 heat-treatment and stamp requirement, the same as almost every destination. We confirm packaging and any country-specific requirement against your order at proforma-invoice stage. |
| Clears at | The discharge port you nominate. We quote FOB Cochin; you or your forwarder book the vessel. |
| Documents we provide | Commercial invoice, packing list, certificate of origin, bill of lading |
| ISPM-15 | Plywood panels exempt; solid-wood packing treated and stamped through a compliant process |
Terms, documents, and checking us before you pay
Export quotes are issued in US dollars under Incoterms 2020, and always name the place or port: FCA Cochin where a sealed container is handed to your carrier, FOB Cochin where we deliver on board, CFR or CIF where agreed. Standard products ship against 50% advance with the balance before dispatch; custom specifications are 100% advance. Payment is by bank transfer (T/T).
Every shipment carries a commercial invoice, a packing list with bundle-wise net and gross weights, the Bill of Lading and a certificate of origin. Destination-specific documents are agreed before production ends, not after the container sails, so send your clearing agent's checklist with the order confirmation.
Paying an advance to a factory on the other side of the world is a real risk, so check us before you send anything. IEC AAJCC9689H is searchable at dgft.gov.in; RCMC/FIEO/10262/2024-2025 is our Federation of Indian Export Organisations registration for wood and articles; the LEI 98450010B744B73B1445 is on gleif.org if your bank runs a counterparty check. Each registration and the portal that confirms it is listed on company verification. Pre-shipment inspection is welcome, by you or an agency you appoint, and loading photographs and video of your container go out the same day it stuffs. The whole sequence is on how we handle an export order.