AUSTRALIA, August 26, 2016 (ABC Rural): The world’s largest producer of Indian sandalwood is gearing up for its first shipment of processed wood, with a ship due out of Darwin Port next month. Tropical Forestry Services (TFS) manages over 30,000 acres of sandalwood trees in northern Australia and has just completed its 2016 harvest in Western Australia’s Ord Irrigation Scheme.
The company harvested around 32,000 trees from 257 acres, which is expected to yield about 300 tons of heartwood, up tenfold on last year’s harvest. TFS managing director Frank Wilson said additional supply agreements had been signed with wood buyers in China and India in the past six months, and the timber being shipped from Darwin is being sold for $US150,000 a metric ton.
“There’s very strong demand out of both China and India for high-quality wood or oil-bearing heartwood, that can be used in a variety of applications such as fine furniture, jewelry and traditional Chinese medicine,” he said. Mr. Wilson said TFS was positioning itself to be the world’s major supplier of “legal and authentic Indian sandalwood oil,” with an aim to have 80 per cent of the market share by 2030. He said the company would continue to look for opportunities to grow more Indian sandalwood in northern Australia.