What is the plywood price in Saudi Arabia when you import from Vietnam?

What does plywood cost in Saudi Arabia in 2026?

The plywood price in Saudi Arabia, for a buyer importing a container from Vietnam, starts from US$250/m³ for commercial plywood and US$350/m³ for furniture and interior plywood, FOB Hai Phong (Minh Thanh Plywood, October 2026). Those are indicative starting prices; the final price depends on face, core, glue, thickness, size, quantity and delivery term.

A Saudi price has four layers on top of the mill price:

1. Sea freight and insurance from Hai Phong to Jeddah or Dammam.
2. Customs duty: the GCC common external tariff of at least 5% on the CIF value.
3. VAT at 15% on the duty-paid value, recoverable for a VAT-registered importer.
4. Inland transport, storage and the merchant’s margin before the sheet reaches a workshop or site in Riyadh, Jeddah or Dammam.

Merchants in the Kingdom price per sheet; mills price per cubic metre. The sections below convert one into the other, show which specification moves the price, and work through one 40HC from Vietnam to Saudi Arabia.

How do you convert a price per m³ into a price per sheet?

A plywood sheet’s price is the price per cubic metre multiplied by the sheet’s volume. For the standard 1220 × 2440 mm sheet, the volume is 1.22 m × 2.44 m × the thickness in metres.

To price a sheet, take the quote per m³ and multiply by the volume in the second column. The Saudi riyal is pegged at 3.75 to the US dollar by the Saudi Central Bank, so a dollar figure converts to riyals by multiplying by 3.75.

This is also how to compare a Saudi merchant’s sheet price with a mill quote: divide the sheet price by the volume to get a price per m³, then compare like with like, after duty, VAT and freight.

What is the 18 mm plywood price in Saudi Arabia?

At our furniture plywood starting price of US$350/m³, one 18 mm sheet of 1220 × 2440 mm costs US$18.75 FOB Hai Phong, about SAR 70.31. At the commercial plywood starting price of US$250/m³, the same sheet size costs US$13.40 FOB, about SAR 50.25.

Eighteen millimetres is the thickness Saudi buyers ask for most, for kitchen and wardrobe carcasses, shop fittings, partitions and formwork. Two builds share that thickness but not that price:

• Furniture plywood: a sanded face such as poplar, birch or EV, a white Styrax or Eucalyptus core, UF glue at E0 emission, pressed twice for a flat surface, thickness tolerance down to ±0.2 mm.
• Commercial plywood: a lower-grade face, a mixed hardwood core, a wider ±0.5 mm tolerance, for hidden parts, packing and site use.

The price gap between them comes from face grade, core and pressing, not from thickness. In a 40HC, 18 mm loads 990 sheets on a Styrax core (about 53 m³, 26.8 kg per sheet) or 795 sheets on a Eucalyptus core (about 43 m³, 34.8 kg per sheet), because the heavier core reaches the weight limit first. Our sibling guide on plywood price by thickness covers the other gauges.

What drives the plywood price?

Seven specification lines decide the price of a plywood quote. The table shows what each one changes, so a Saudi buyer can read two quotes side by side.

Face is usually the biggest single line in furniture plywood: the visible veneer is the most expensive layer per square metre. Core is the second, because it decides weight, flatness and how many sheets fit in a container.

Which plywood should a Saudi buyer specify?

The right plywood for Saudi Arabia is the one matched to its use, not the most expensive panel in the catalogue. Most orders fall into four uses:

Saudi interiors run air-conditioned and dry. Panels dried to 8–12 % moisture content at dispatch, the normal range for furniture plywood, settle into that climate without the movement a wet panel shows after unpacking.

What is the marine plywood price in Saudi Arabia?

Marine plywood is the most expensive plywood in any Saudi price list, because the name “marine” covers a demanding build: a durable tropical species, a phenolic (WBP) bond and a core without gaps, as set out in the British standard BS 1088. BSI lists the current edition as BS 1088:2018, covering standard and lightweight marine plywood. The price gap over furniture plywood comes from the species and the build, not from the name.

Much of what is sold as “marine plywood” in the Gulf is exterior plywood with a phenolic bond rather than a BS 1088 panel. Both have a place:

• BS 1088 marine plywood for boats and constant water contact.
• Exterior plywood with a phenolic (WBP) bond for formwork, outdoor sheds, signage boards and wet-area fit-out.

Minh Thanh does not sell okoume furniture plywood as marine plywood. We make exterior plywood with water-resistant melamine-fortified or phenolic (WBP) glue, and film-faced plywood for formwork, for buyers who need the bond without paying for a boat-building standard. Our guide to marine plywood price explains what BS 1088 adds to the cost.

What do Saudi shops charge per sheet today?

Saudi shelf prices for imported plywood run from SAR 34.50 to SAR 143.75 per sheet including VAT, depending on face, origin and thickness (Al Zaben timber catalogue, checked 21 October 2026). The listings are the benchmark an importer’s landed cost has to beat.

The catalogue does not print a thickness beside each price, which is why one product shows a wide range: the low end is a thin sheet and the high end a thick one. Compare a shelf price with a mill quote only at the same thickness and grade.

Our 18 mm furniture sheet lands at SAR 85.71 duty paid before VAT in the worked example below, about SAR 98.57 with 15% VAT. That sits inside the Saudi range for thick ordinary and film-faced sheets and leaves room for the merchant’s margin, with a sanded furniture face, a calibrated core and E0 emission results behind it that a generic shelf panel does not document.

Fire-retardant plywood is its own line in Saudi project specifications. Stockists in Dammam and Jubail carry branded fire-retardant sheets next to full-birch exterior and film-faced plywood, and one Riyadh retailer lists fire-retardant plywood in 12 mm and 18 mm from SAR 112.50 per sheet (Madar listing, 21 October 2026). Treat fire rating as a separate specification line; it needs its own certificate, not just a plywood grade.

Saudi shops also sell standard door-size sheets: Asala Wood lists 90 × 214 cm (3 × 7 ft) beside 122 × 244 cm (4 × 8 ft), and offers carpentry cutting. We supply the standard 1220 × 2440 mm sheet, custom sizes and cut-to-size pieces on order, so a door-size or pre-cut programme can be loaded in one container.

What is the plywood price in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam?

The mill price is the same for every Saudi city; the plywood price in Riyadh differs from Jeddah or Dammam by the inland leg. A container from Vietnam lands at one of two main ports:

Riyadh buyers usually book the container to Dammam and add the inland leg, because the Gulf port is the nearer one by land. Ask the forwarder for both routings when the project is in central Saudi Arabia.

Typical time at sea from Hai Phong to the Middle East is 15–25 days, by carrier and route. Add 15–45 days of production after the deposit, and plan a Saudi project order about two months before the panels are needed on site.

How do you calculate the landed cost from Vietnam?

The landed cost of plywood in Saudi Arabia is the FOB price plus freight and insurance, plus the customs duty on that CIF value, plus VAT, plus inland costs. The formula:

1. FOB value = price per m³ × m³ in the container.
2. CIF value = FOB value + sea freight + insurance.
3. Customs duty = CIF value × the GCC rate for the tariff line, at least 5%.
4. VAT = (CIF value + duty) × 15%.
5. Landed cost before VAT = CIF value + duty + port and inland costs.

Duty is calculated on the CIF value, as the US government’s Saudi Arabia country guide explains: “Customs duties are calculated Ad valorem on the C.I.F value.” The same guide confirms the VAT rate of 15%, raised from 5% in July 2020.

Worked example: one 40HC of 18 mm furniture plywood to Dammam

The example takes one 40HC of 18 mm poplar-faced furniture plywood on a Styrax core, at our indicative starting price for furniture plywood (October 2026). The freight figure is an assumption for the example, not a quote, and the duty uses the 5% GCC base rate.

The per-sheet figure is the cost a Saudi importer carries before trucking, storage and margin. It also shows where money moves: freight and duty together add about a fifth to the FOB price per sheet, while a better face or core changes the FOB line itself.

How do Vietnamese, Chinese and Malaysian plywood compare for Saudi importers?

Saudi importers compare plywood from Vietnam, China and Malaysia every season, and the honest answer is that the build matters more than the country. Each origin makes cost-effective commercial panels and top-grade furniture panels; a quote is only comparable when the specification lines match.

A Vietnamese furniture mill brings four specific points to that comparison:

• Plantation cores grown close to the mill.
• A white Styrax core that is light (about 500 kg/m³ reference density) and loads 990 sheets of 18 mm into a 40HC.
• Double pressing as standard.
• CARB P2 / TSCA Title VI certification with chamber tests on record.

Ask for the same lines from every origin and the price comparison becomes fair.

Which Saudi rules affect the plywood price?

Three Saudi requirements add cost or time to a plywood import, and each belongs in the price before the order is placed.

1. Customs duty and VAT. The GCC common external tariff of at least 5% on CIF, then 15% VAT. Vietnam has no trade agreement with Saudi Arabia, so the standard rate applies, with a non-preferential certificate of origin.
2. Product conformity. Saudi Arabia runs product conformity through the Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization (SASO) and its SABER platform. Check with your broker whether your plywood line needs a SABER certificate before the container is loaded, not when it lands.
3. Building use. Panels for construction work follow the Saudi Building Code and the project’s specification; furniture and fit-out panels follow the buyer’s own specification.

Document attestation is a fourth cost line on many Saudi orders: some buyers need the invoice and certificate of origin attested by a chamber of commerce and the embassy. Our guide to import duty on plywood from Vietnam covers duty by market.

When do plywood prices move?

Plywood prices from Vietnam move with log and veneer supply, glue prices, freight and the order book, not with the Saudi riyal. Because the riyal is pegged at 3.75 to the dollar, a dollar quote keeps its riyal value from one month to the next.

A quotation states its date and its validity. Our starting prices are dated October 2026 and are the reference for this article.

How do you read a plywood quote from Vietnam?

A plywood quote is only comparable when every line that drives the price is written down. Read each quote for these points before comparing the totals:

1. Price basis: per m³, FOB Hai Phong, CFR or CIF your port.
2. Specification: face and back grade, core species, glue and emission class, thickness and tolerance, size.
3. Quantity: m³ and sheets per specification, sheets per 40HC.
4. Packing: pallet type, covers, straps, and how many packs.
5. Payment: deposit, balance and method.
6. Lead time: production days after the deposit.
7. Documents: certificate of origin, test reports, photos and video of the loading.

Our quotes follow that layout. Payment is a 30% deposit and the 70% balance against the scanned bill of lading, or an irrevocable L/C at sight. Every shipment is photographed and filmed before loading, and the buyer gets the photos and video.

What to send for a Saudi Arabia quotation

To get a plywood price for Saudi Arabia that you can compare and budget with, send these lines to [email protected] or WhatsApp +84 988 586 601 (Lisa):

1. Application: furniture, fit-out, formwork, packing.
2. Core: Styrax or Eucalyptus; Acacia and Pine made on order.
3. Glue and emission: UF glue at E0 emission, MR, or phenolic (WBP).
4. Face and back grade: for example poplar A/B or birch D+/D.
5. Thickness and size: 3–40 mm; 1220 × 2440 mm or a custom size.
6. Packing and quantity: m³ or sheets per specification; one 40HC minimum, mixed by agreement.
7. Port: Jeddah or Dammam, and FOB, CFR or CIF.

We reply within hours on working days, and free samples come with the first quote. For the general price picture, see the plywood price guide; for neighbouring markets, see the guide to plywood prices in the UAE.