Plywood exports
to the UK.

An Indian manufacturer, not a UK stockist

Our group began working timber in Perumbavoor, Kerala, in 1986. Our factories are about 40 km from Cochin Port, so a container stuffs at the factory and gates in at the Vallarpadam terminal the same day. We sell FOB Cochin: we manufacture and pack the goods, clear them for export and load them on board, and you or your forwarder carry the ocean leg to the UK port you nominate.

That is worth stating plainly, because it is the difference between buying from us and buying from a UK importer's yard. There is no British warehouse behind this page and no local stock. What you get instead is factory pricing, a specification agreed before the panels are pressed, and a loading plan kept within the container's weight limit and usable space rather than built around a merchant's pallet count.

The United Kingdom is one of several lanes we run out of Cochin. The rest are on the export hub, and the mechanics of an order — who does what, and when — are set out in how we handle an export order.

What we ship to the United Kingdom

Two kinds of buyer use this lane: importers and merchants buying panels, and exporters buying the packaging their own goods travel in. On face veneer our face-veneer guide is worth reading before you specify: European inspectors are stricter on face-veneer cosmetic defects than Middle East or African inspectors, and the guide's advice for a Northern European buyer is to default to an okoume or birch face rather than gurjan.

A deep-sea voyage changes the bond you should be asking for. On long lanes we quote BWR for routine dry cargo and BWP where the consignment is high-value or the cargo is sensitive to condensation over several weeks at sea.

Origin data, certification and emission class

Buyers increasingly ask about origin before they ask about price, and the answer should arrive with the quote rather than after the shipment. For UK-bound orders we supply the same origin pack we prepare for European buyers: species and country of harvest for the timber in the panel, faces and cores both, and legality documentation for harvest and trade in the country of origin. Much of what we press is plantation timber — rubberwood above all — grown as an agricultural crop and replanted on a cycle, which traces to plots far more readily than mixed natural-forest material.

We do not hold a single certification that covers everything we make; licences are held factory by factory. If your tender needs FSC chain of custody, a Declaration of Performance, or a stated formaldehyde class such as E1, tell us at enquiry. We quote it only where our factory for your order holds it, and the quotation names the certificate; it cannot be added after the panels are pressed. Original certificates are submitted on request. The registrations you can verify yourself, without asking us, are listed on our company verification page.

On the conformity-marking route for panels sold into Great Britain for construction use: CE marking is still accepted, and not as an allowance with an expiry date on it — the government settled that on 2 September 2024, after the Morrell-Day review, and undertook to give at least two years’ notice before changing it. UKCA marking runs alongside as a valid parallel route rather than a replacement. Which route your project wants is a question for your own compliance adviser against the specification; tell us the answer at enquiry, because we quote the Declaration of Performance and the declared formaldehyde class only where our factory for your order holds them.

Terms, currency and paperwork

Export quotes are issued in USD. FOB Cochin is our default term; a CIF figure to your nominated UK port is available on request, priced against current freight. We do not publish rates. Each quote is built against your thickness, size, grade and quantity, and the reply goes out within one business day.

Standard products ship against 50 percent advance with the balance before dispatch; made-to-order and custom-fabricated goods are 100 percent advance. We accept bank transfer (T/T). We warrant that the goods conform to the grade and standard on the proforma invoice at the time risk passes.

Plywood panels are processed wood and exempt from ISPM-15, so bare sheets need no heat-treatment stamp. Solid-wood packaging is treated by a DPPQS-registered treatment provider where the destination requires it and stencilled with the IPPC mark, country code IN, the treatment code and the registered facility number, which is the standard for exports to the EU, the UK and most other destinations we ship to; a treatment certificate is supplied where the quotation states it.

Import essentials for the UK

What your customs agent needs to land a plywood shipment in the UK. We quote FOB Cochin in USD; duty and VAT are added at import by your agent.

Item	Detail
HS code	4412 (the 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 broker confirms the line)
Customs duty	The UK Global Tariff (MFN) rate on HS 4412 plywood is 6% ad valorem, confirmed directly on HMRC’s own Trade Tariff tool for the 4412.33 and 4412.39 subheadings. The UK–India trade agreement (CETA) entered into force on 15 July 2026, and for one specific plywood code (4412 3400 10) the same tool shows a 0% preferential rate for India-origin goods, conditional on a valid certificate or statement of origin under the agreement’s rules of origin — without that proof, the 6% MFN rate is what customs will charge. Whether that 0% preference reaches every plywood subheading is not yet confirmed on the government’s own pages, so treat 6% as the safe planning figure and have your broker verify the live rate, CETA eligibility included, against CWI’s exact 10-digit code before final costing.
VAT at import	UK import VAT is 20%, the standard rate, unchanged since 2011. It is charged on the customs value of the goods plus customs duty (and freight and insurance where these form part of that value) — not on CIF alone before duty is added. Postponed VAT accounting, where you use it, remains a matter for your own UK VAT registration.
Landed-cost note	Indicative only — your broker must confirm the destination tariff line and the rates in force. Import VAT is not charged on CIF alone: the base is the customs value plus customs duty, and local law may add fees and other incidental charges.
Origin data	Species and country of harvest for faces and cores, plus legality documentation for harvest and trade in the country of origin, issued with the quote.
Conformity / standards	CE marking continues to be accepted for construction products, plywood included, on the Great Britain market — not as an expiring allowance but indefinitely, following the UK government’s 2 September 2024 decision after its Morrell-Day review, with a guaranteed minimum two years’ notice before any future change. UKCA marking remains available as a valid parallel route. We can supply a Declaration of Performance and a declared formaldehyde class where the factory making the order holds them — named at enquiry, not added later.
Clears at	The UK port you nominate. We sell FOB Cochin, so the discharge port is your forwarder's choice.
Typical transit	23 days port to port from Cochin to Felixstowe on published FCL schedules, or around 31 days to London Gateway — the only Cochin-specific figures available, and consistent with the wider 20–28 day range quoted for the nearby Nhava Sheva–Felixstowe lane. Since Red Sea disruption pushed most carriers onto the Cape of Good Hope routing, actual transit is commonly running longer than the published schedule — into the mid-30s to 40 days on this corridor. Ask the export desk to confirm against the routing your forwarder actually books, since that decides the real figure far more than any published schedule does.
Documents we provide	Commercial invoice, packing list, certificate of origin, bill of lading. Phytosanitary certificate where the destination requires one.
ISPM-15	Panels exempt; solid wood in assembled crates and pallets treated and IPPC-marked by a DPPQS-registered treatment provider where the destination requires it, with a treatment certificate where the quotation states it