An Indian manufacturer, not a Caribbean stockist
Our group began working timber in Perumbavoor, Kerala, in 1986. Our factories sit about 40 km from Cochin Port, which is where your container is stuffed, sealed and gated in. We hold no stock in the Dominican Republic and no warehouse anywhere in the region, so the price you get is the panel at the factory gate, in US dollars, with the freight left where you can see it.
The Dominican Republic is one of several lanes we run into the Americas; the export hub lists the rest. What follows is the part that is specific to buying a container from this distance for the first time.
What we ship to the Dominican Republic
Our export range loads from Cochin Port. These are the lines we would put in front of a first-time buyer on this lane; the rest are in the catalogue.
| Product | Build | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Film-faced shuttering plywood | Phenolic film face, made for repeated pours | Slab and column formwork. |
| Commercial plywood | MR or BWR bond | Furniture, shopfitting, doors and general joinery. |
| BWR hardwood plywood | Boiling-water-resistant bond | Humid and coastal service. |
| Packing-grade plywood | MR bond, IS 303 | 6, 8, 12, 15 and 18 mm are the usual thicknesses. Cases, crating and pallet decks. |
| Plywood boxes and crates | ISPM-15 where required: solid-wood parts treated and marked by a DPPQS-registered provider; certificate where the quote states it | Ready-to-pack cases made to your internal dimensions. |
| Plywood pallets | Two- and four-way ply and timber | Freight and storage. |
Mixed loads are normal on a long lane: a container split across two or three of these lines is a standard order, not a special request. Okoume is a face veneer rather than a grade, so it can go onto the MR-packing or BWR build if the panel face matters at your end; the calibrated Okoume-face panel with a eucalyptus core, 16 mm at about 32 kg a sheet, is a separate line for furniture work.
Bond grade decides how the panel arrives
MR is a moisture-resistant bond, not a waterproof one, and weeks of humid air is exactly the condition that finds the difference. Where the panel will sit in damp air after it lands, specify BWR; where it will be wet, IS 710 BWP marine. Our note on BWR versus BWP for export packing sets out where each bond stops. Whichever you take, panels are palletised and strapped for sea transit; data sheets for the IS 303, IS 710, film-faced and Okoume E1 grades are published, and others are sent on request.
At the roughly 26.5-tonne ship-line payload, a 40 ft container of plywood at the 650 kg/m³ used in our loading guide uses only about 41 of its 67 cubic metres of gross volume, but sheet layout, door height and packing can still set the count first, so either limit may govern. Every load stays within the container's usable space and the lower of the ship-line payload and the road limit at your end, so tell us the limit that applies to your inland leg and the sheet count is set against it on the proforma invoice. The arithmetic is on the container weight guide.
How a first container actually runs
Five steps, and nothing about them is specific to this lane. You send the specification — thickness, sheet size, grade and face, quantity, discharge port. We return a proforma invoice: FOB Cochin in USD, sheets per container, net and gross weights, production lead time and the payment schedule, all in writing. Panels are pressed to the approved spec, and an inspection window is held open before loading, for you or any third-party agency you appoint. The container is stuffed at our factory and gated in at Cochin Port. Documents follow the vessel.
Two things close the gap between your money and the container doors opening: loading photographs and video of your own container, sent the same day it stuffs, and a packing list with real bundle-wise net and gross weights — the same numbers declared to the shipping line. Behind both sits our warranty that the goods conform to the grade and standard on the proforma invoice at the time risk passes. The full sequence is on how we handle an export order.
Import essentials for the Dominican Republic
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 | The Dominican Republic applies a base customs duty of 3% on CIF value for plywood under HS 4412, the general (MFN) rate under the country’s CAFTA-DR tariff schedule, since India has no free trade or preferential agreement with the Dominican Republic and does not qualify for any reduced rate. Dominican customs (DGA) also charges a flat 0.4% customs service fee on CIF value, on top of the duty. ITBIS — the Dominican VAT-equivalent under Law No. 253-12 — is 18%, charged on CIF value plus the duty; wood panels do not qualify for the 16% reduced ITBIS band, which is limited to specific foodstuffs. Have your clearing agent confirm the exact 8-digit HS subheading and current rate against DGA’s arancel — the live portal could not be reached directly to verify the rate is unchanged since the 2022 tariff amendment. |
| 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 |
| Plant health | A phytosanitary certificate where the destination requires one, and a fumigation certificate only where fumigation was actually carried out, confirmed against your country's rules at proforma-invoice stage |
| ISPM-15 | Plywood panels exempt; solid-wood packing treated and IPPC-marked by a DPPQS-registered treatment provider where the destination requires it, with a treatment certificate where the quotation states it |
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; made-to-order and custom-fabricated goods are 100% advance. Payment is by bank transfer (T/T).
We ask for money before you have met us, so check us first. 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. The bank beneficiary name always matches the company named on the proforma invoice; if you are ever sent details in which it does not, stop and call the number on this site before remitting anything.