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We get asked for a price list most weeks, and we do not publish one. That is not evasiveness. Board rates move with the import market, with the exchange rate, and with what arrived at the port this month. A list published in January is actively misleading by March, and a customer who plans a kitchen around a stale number is worse off than one who simply asked.
What is worth publishing is the part that does not change: what makes one sheet cost more than another. Once you understand that, a quote stops being a number you either accept or haggle over and becomes something you can actually interrogate.
Why two sheets at the same thickness cost different money
This is the single most useful thing to understand, because it explains nearly every confusing quote.
Grade. Face and back veneer quality is graded, and A-Grade — smooth, sanded, no significant knots or patches — costs more than a grade with repaired defects. If the surface will be seen or painted, you need the better grade. If the sheet is hidden inside a carcass, you may not.
Core quality. This is where cheap sheets get cheap, and it is invisible until you look at the edge. A core with voids — gaps where the layers never bonded — weighs less, costs less, and fails suddenly under load rather than sagging first. Two sheets can carry the same grade label on the face and have very different cores.
Glue type. Moisture-resistant and boiling-water-resistant boards use different adhesives, and the difference is in the price. This is not an upgrade you can apply later; it is a different sheet from the factory.
Actual versus nominal thickness. A sheet sold as 18mm does not always measure 18mm. An undersized sheet costs less to make and quotes lower. It also throws out every hinge and runner calculation the carpenter has made.
Sheet size. Larger sheets cost more but may waste less depending on your cutting list. Comparing per-sheet prices across different sizes tells you very little until you know how many sheets each option needs.
MDF and LMDF move on different things
Plain MDF is a more uniform product than plywood, so there is less variation between suppliers at the same density and thickness. Where the price does move is density and thickness — and density is worth asking about, because a denser board machines better and holds a screw marginally better than a light one.
LMDF adds the laminate, and that is where the cost separates. The Alnoor Lasani ranges we carry are not priced alike: a textured or high-gloss decor is not the same panel as a flat solid colour, and the finish you choose moves the sheet price more than the core does. If a budget is tight, the honest lever is the finish, not the board.
Panel size matters here too. Alnoor supplies in more than one panel length, and which one suits your door heights decides how much of each sheet becomes offcut.
The comparison that actually matters
A cheaper sheet in the wrong place is the most expensive thing in a kitchen.
Board that sags means a replaced shelf. Fibreboard at a sink with an unbanded edge means a replaced cabinet. Under-thickness board means hinges that do not sit right from the first week. None of those show up in the sheet price and all of them show up eventually.
The useful way to think about it: spend on the boards that carry weight or meet water, and take the saving on the ones that are hidden and dry. That is a different instinct from buying the cheapest sheet across the board, and it generally costs less over the life of the kitchen.
Our board comparison covers which board belongs where, and the plywood guide covers how to check a sheet before you pay — reading the edge for voids is a thirty-second check that tells you what a grade label does not.
What to bring when you ask for a rate
A useful quote needs the cutting list, or close to it: rough cabinet dimensions, how many shutters and at what heights, what thickness you are working to, and which finish you are leaning towards. With that we can work out sheet counts rather than quoting per sheet and leaving you to guess the quantity.
Estimates are free. We quote against the day's rates, and returns are accepted under our return policy with special-order and damaged items excluded — which matters when over-ordering by a sheet is a normal part of planning a kitchen.
Ali Plywood Center, Purani Hattian, New Mirpur City, 10250 — next to Janjua Timber Merchant. WhatsApp +92 355 6415415 or call +92 349 7677791 with your measurements.
If you are costing a whole kitchen rather than buying sheets, what a fitted kitchen actually costs breaks the job into the parts that drive the total.
Good to know
Questions we get asked
How much does a sheet of plywood cost in Pakistan?
It changes, which is why we quote on the day rather than publish a figure. The price of a sheet depends on grade, thickness, core timber, glue type, sheet size and what the import market has done recently. Two sheets of the same nominal thickness can differ substantially in price and both be fairly priced.
Why is one plywood quote much cheaper than another?
Usually because they are not the same sheet. The common differences are grade, core quality, glue type and actual versus nominal thickness. A sheet with voids in the core, a softer core timber or a thickness that measures under its label will always quote lower. Ask what grade and glue type the quote covers before comparing.
Do you publish an Al Noor LMDF price list?
No. Panel rates move with the market and a list that is three weeks old misleads more than it helps. Ask us on the day and you get the day's rate for the range and finish you want.
Is thicker board always more expensive?
Per sheet, yes. Per job, not always — using board that is too thin often means adding support rails, replacing a sagging shelf later, or building a carcass that does not hold square. The cost that matters is the finished kitchen, not the sheet.
Does sheet size affect the price?
Yes, and it affects waste more. A sheet that suits your cutting list leaves less offcut, so two quotes at different sheet sizes are not directly comparable until you work out how many sheets each one actually needs for your job.
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