With the Indian Rupee at 46.22 to one US dollar there has been a surge of 14% in the dollar from its record low of Rs.52.20 reached in March. This jump has put exporters in difficult spot and in October there was a drop of almost 12% in exports according to official figures.

China is one of the key competitors for Indian exporters along with Vietnam, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Nevertheless demand for hardwood products continues to be good and the slightly lower prices seen for logs from Myanmar and other sources has helped exporters adjust to the dollar strengthening.

On export front the performance has been steady and consistently improving as seen from the following

figures:-
Value of exports of plywood and wood products from India

(Rupees in millions)

1999-2000                   Rs. 1867.0

2000-2001                   Rs. 3080.0

2001-2002                   Rs .3383.5

2002-2003                   Rs. 4466.1

2003-2004                   Rs .6799.6

2004-2005                   Rs.11890.3

2005-2006                  Rs.13101.0

2006-2007                  Rs.17919.9

2007-2008                 Rs.19620.2

2008-2009                  Rs.22000.0 (estimated)