Century Ply sets up timber processing unit in Laos.

Century Plyboards (India) Ltd. has set up a timber processing unit in Laos for import of raw material into India. This is the company's second unit overseas. Earlier, it had established such a unit in Myanmar.

Sajjan Bhajanka, Chairman of the company, told BusinessLine that the unit with a capacity to process 150 cubic metres of log a day has three peeling lines and four driers.

Located in the Bolikhamsai province of the South East Asian country, the unit is a joint venture between Century Plyboards and an expatriate Indian. 'We will invest around rS. 50 crore, including working capital funding. Trial production has already begun and full-fledged production will start from May,' Bhajanka said.

The company sources raw and processed timber from abroad. Last year, it mainly used its carryover stock of timber. Meanwhile, Century Plyboards has decided to set up a particleboard unit near Chennai with a capital expenditure of around Rs. . 60 crore. The unit with 180 cubic metres a day capacity will be housed at the company's existing plywood factory, some 50 km off Chennai. Bhajanka said the company is also adding two more lines to its Kolkata laminate unit at a cost of Rs. 50 crore. These two expansion projects are expected to be commissioned later in 2015-16.


HBL