Two things settle a US order before the price does
Our group began working timber in Perumbavoor, Kerala, in 1986, and our factories are about 40 km from Cochin Port. Selling into the United States is not harder than any other lane we run, but two questions have to be settled at enquiry rather than at the port, and both of them change the quote.
The first is formaldehyde certification. If your entry needs CARB or TSCA Title VI, name it at enquiry: we quote it only where our factory for your order holds it, and it cannot be added after the panels are pressed. The second is weight. The US road figure is the lowest we publish: about 20 tonnes, against a ship-line payload of about 26.5. Both are dealt with below. The export hub covers the rest of the lanes we ship from Cochin.
CARB and TSCA Title VI: name it at enquiry
We make no blanket compliance claim. BIS licences and test reports are held factory by factory, so there is no single licence number that covers everything we make. Any certificate or test report that applies to your order is identified on the quotation by holder, number and product scope, and released to verified buyers on request. No compliance claim applies to your order until those documents are in your hands.
What that means in practice is short. If your market needs a specific certification — CARB or TSCA Title VI for the United States, FSC chain of custody, a CE Declaration of Performance for an onward European leg — 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 retrofitted at the port.
A low-emission E1 glue line is available on Okoume-faced panels. E1 and CARB Phase 2 / TSCA Title VI are different regimes with different test methods, so confirm the exact class your entry needs instead of treating one as a substitute for the other. Our note on formaldehyde compliance for plywood exports sets out what to ask any supplier for; the certificate policy in full is on company verification.
What we ship from Cochin to the United States
Our export range loads from Cochin Port. These are the lines we would put in front of a first-time US buyer; the rest are in the catalogue.
| Product | Build | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 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. |
| Film-faced shuttering plywood | Phenolic film face, made for repeated pours | Slab and column formwork. |
| Container flooring plywood | 28 mm hardwood core, nominally 65 kg per 8 × 4 ft sheet, black film on one side; with or without groove | Container-floor enquiries; floor specification and required documents confirmed on the quote. |
| Plywood boxes, crates and pallets | ISPM-15 where required: solid-wood parts treated and marked by a DPPQS-registered provider; certificate where the quote states it | Machinery packing and freight. |
Mixed loads are normal. A container split across two or three of these lines is a standard order, not a special request.
Loading within a US road weight limit, not the container's rating
Plywood is dense. At its roughly 26.5-tonne 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. Destination road rules lower the weight limit, and the United States lowers it furthest of the figures we publish: about 20 tonnes for US highway transport.
So we load every container within the lower of the ship-line payload and the destination road limit, and check that the sheets fit. Your boxes are not stopped at a weighbridge after arrival because the container was stuffed to a limit that only applies at sea. The figure is approximate and confirmed per booking on the proforma invoice, alongside sheets per container and net and gross weights. The arithmetic behind it — payload caps, sheet weights, worked 40 ft loadings — is on the container weight guide.
Import essentials for the United States
What your customs broker 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 broker confirms the line) |
| Customs duty | The base US MFN duty on HS 4412 plywood runs Free to 8% depending on the exact 10-digit HTS line, with the general ‘other’ tropical-hardwood plywood lines most CWI shipments fall under — gurjan, marine and similar constructions — typically dutiable at 8%; India receives no GSP or FTA preference on this line, having lost US GSP eligibility in 2019. The India-specific reciprocal tariff that had pushed the combined rate as high as 50% through 2025 no longer applies: the US Supreme Court ruled in February 2026 (Learning Resources v. Trump) that IEEPA does not authorize it, and the underlying executive orders, including the added Russia-oil surcharge, were terminated that same month. Since 24 July 2026, though, a Section 301 ‘forced labor’ action adds a further 10% duty on Indian-origin goods generally, and a separate Section 232 tariff on timber, lumber and derivative wood products is also in force — whether CWI’s specific plywood HTS lines are exempted under either program has not been confirmed from public sources. There is no US anti-dumping or countervailing duty order on plywood from India, only on plywood from China. Because the final rate depends on the exact HTS line and on annex-level exemptions under both currently active programs, your customs broker confirms the current combined rate for the tariff line you are shipping under. |
| Formaldehyde compliance | CARB or TSCA Title VI where your entry requires it — named at enquiry, and quoted only where our factory for your order holds it; the quotation names the certificate |
| 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 |
| Container weight | Loaded within about 20 tonnes for US highway transport, against a ship-line payload of about 26.5 tonnes |
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).
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. Tell us your customs broker's checklist when you confirm the order: destination-specific documents are agreed before production ends, not after the container sails.
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. 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.