Century Plyboards (India) Ltd plans to set up a new unit for manufacturing particle board in Tamil Nadu at an estimated investment of around ₹550 crore. It is looking to add 3,60,000 cubic metres (CBM) per annum capacity by FY25.

Its existing capacity for particle board is close to 75,000 CBM per annum and the capacity utilisation for the year ended March 2022 was at 97 per cent.

According to Keshav Bhajanka, Executive Director, CenturyPly, the company has procured about 30 acres of land in Chennai for setting up the unit.

“We had decided to come up with a particle board unit in UP long time ago. However, it could not move ahead with the plan due to some licensing issues but that has now been cleared. So we are just seeing whether to set up the plant in UP or Tamil Nadu. We are hopeful of firming up our plans by the end of this fiscal,” Bhajanka told businessline.  

Rise in demand

The increasing demand for particle board and limited capacity of the existing plant and proximity to principal source of raw material are some of the key reasons for coming up with a new plant, the company said in a notification to stock exchanges on Thursday.

The company, which is looking to triple its MDF (medium density fiberboard) capacity to 1,800 cu.mt from the current 600 cu.mt per day, is looking to invest close to ₹900 crore over the next three years till FY25 in both brownfield and greenfield projects.

Work on brownfield MDF expansion at Hoshiarpur is in full swing and is likely to come on stream by the end of this month. Its upcoming greenfield MDF project at Andhra Pradesh is also likely to commission by the second half of FY24. The greenfield project for laminate project in Andhra Pradesh is also expected to come on stream in Q2FY24.

Net profit dips

CenturyPly registered 26 per cent drop in standalone net profit at ₹76 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2022, against ₹103 crore in the same period last year.

Revenue from operations grew 11 per cent to ₹900 crore (₹808 crore).

According to Bhajanka, while it has been one of the best quarters for the company in recent times, the net profit came down on account of an impairment loss on investment in subsidiary to the tune of ₹47 crore.

The company’s board has decided to dispose off its investments in its non-material subsidiary, Centuryply Myanmar Private Limited (CPML) due to disruption in operations resulting out of adverse political developments.

The company’s scrip closed at ₹607.30, up 3.48 per cent, on the BSE on Thursday.

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