Global Teak Resources and MarketAssessment
S. Sandeep and Walter Kollert
TEAKNET, India

About the study The Teak Resources and Market Assessment (TRMA 2022) was acollaborative study by TEAKNET, IUFRO and FAO, that addressed thedata gap by providing a comprehensive evaluation of the world’s teakresources.
 It includes detailed information on
 Distribution of teak at country, regional and global levels
 Ownership status of plantations
 Productivity aspects
 Trade dynamics and major markets

Methodology
TRMA 2022 aimed to update, evaluate, andexpand data in all teak-producing countries.
Data was collected through a standardizedquestionnaire; prepared in five languages(Chinese, English, French, Portuguese andSpanish).
Questionnaire was sent to each country
through the Regional Coordinators, who wereinstrumental in the process of managing thecommunication with the identified resource
persons, data collection and verification.

Credit: J. Walotek, Waka Serviços De
Investimentos Florestais Ltda., Brazil.

Data collection and quality of data
The questionnaire was sent to 80 countries. Of these, 72% reported thatteak is grown in their country, but only 52% returned the questionnaire withnational teak resource data.
The data was put through a thorough scrutiny. Checked for plausibility, withquestionable data reviewed and corrected in collaboration with localcontacts. Over 100 individuals participated in the data collection and review
process.
TRMA 2022 is a useful reference for assessing country situations andtrends, and there is currently no better up-to-date information available onteak resources and markets.

Outcome
Development of the area of natural teak forests bycountry
TRMA 2010(1000 ha)India
Lao PDR
MyanmarThailand
Total

6,810
1.5
13,4798,74429,035

TRMA 2022(1000 ha)5,935
16
15,424
8,840
30,215

Change from2010 to 2022
(1000 ha)-875
+14.50+1,945+96+1,180.50

 The area of natural and planted teak forests
has expanded, increasing the harvest ofteak round wood and its share in the global
timber market.

Development of the area of planted teak forests by region
RegionTRMA 2010
1000 ha%469.8010.8
3,606.17
83.0
15.32
0.4
132.78*3.1

AfricaAsia and Oceania
Caribbean
Mexico and Central
AmericaSouth America
122.30World 4,346.37

2.8100

TRMA 2022
1000 ha%625.59 12.93,866.95 79.7
24.10
0.5
157.82
3.3
178.944,853.39

 Asia holds more than 97 percent of the world's natural and planted teak resources, andnearly 80 percent of the world’s planted teak resources. The three teak heavyweights are
India with 1.693 million ha of planted teak forests (35 percent of the total), Indonesia with
1.269 million ha (26 percent) and Myanmar with 0.477 million ha (10 percent).

Change1000 ha+155.79+260.78+8.78+25.04

3.7 +56.64
100 +507.02

Natural Teak and Planted Teak Forests
Development of the area of planted teak forests in the
top ten countries (area > 50,000 ha) 2010 to 2022
TRMA 2010
CountryIndia
Indonesia
MyanmarThailandGhana
Nigeria
EcuadorBangladesh
BrazilBenin1000 ha
1,667
1,269
390
128
214
146
457365
26

TRMA 2022
1000 ha
1,693
1,269
477
217
210
146
75
73
64
50

Top 10 countries with the largest area of planted
teak forests (1 000 ha)

Change2010 to 2022
1000 ha+26-+86+89-4-+30--2+24 Substantial increases can be observed in Thailand, Myanmar, Ecuador, India and Benin.
 The ten countries with the largest area account for 88 percent

Age class distribution and ownership status of planted teak forests
Age class distribution of planted production forests

Age Class Distribution
The majority of planted teak forests (94%) are
under 40 years old, reflecting increased planting
efforts and short rotation management over thepast 30 years. This has led to a significant rise in
the supply of small diameter logs for theinternational market
Ownership (%) of planted production forests by region

Ownership
While public ownership is still common in Africa,
private ownership is growing worldwide as morecompaniesandfarmers
recognize
teak'scommercial potential. Smallholders own andmanage 25% of the world's planted teak forests,
covering 1.2 million hectares.

Growth performance and rotation age
Mean annual increment (MAI) and rotation age by region
TRMA 2010
RotationMAI
3(yrs)(m /ha/yr)

TRMA 2022
MAI
Rotation3(m /ha/yr)
(yrs)

Min

Max

Min

Max

MinMaxMinMaxAfrica

321

460

3.0

18.0

360

Asia, Oceania

214

2080

0.4

28.6

1580

Mexico andCentral America
South America

530

630

4.2

8.3

1622

1027

2030

5.0

19.0540World

230

480

0.4

19380

RegionIn most countries < 12 m3/ha/year
Exceptions
China - 28.6 m3/ha/year
Lao PDR - 21.3 m3/ha/year
Brazil - 19 m3/ha/year The reported rotation periods between 20 and 30
years leading to production of lower quality small
diameter logs
 Small diameter logs are in high demand on theinternational market as multi-purpose timber for lessdemandingconstruction
purposes,furniture,
flooring, reconstituted wood products and power
poles.
 Good quality from longer rotations- Benin, Togo,
Tanzania, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Brazil (40and 80 years).

Removal of teak logs
Log removals from planted teak forests by region 2010 and 2022
RegionAfricaAsia, Oceania
Caribbean, CentralAmerica
South AmericaWorld

Log removals (m3)Change%TRMA 2010
TRMA 2022
m3
141,146454,991 +313,845+322
522,710
835,443 +312,733+160
141,845
141,845--140,912
946,613359,684 +218,772
1,791,963 +845,350

Top ten countries producing teak roundwood fromplanted forests+255+189

 Globally, roundwood removals in 2022 were almost
twice as high (189 percent) as in 2010. In 2010,946,613 m3 of wood were harvested, whereas in
2022, 1,791,963 m3 were harvested.
 The largest increases are in Africa and SouthAmerica
 The largest volume is cut in Indonesia, Brazil andGhana, the three countries that account for 65% of
the globally harvested teak.

Markets and Trade - Price and quality•••

The domestic and export market prices in Africa and Asia have increased from TRMA 2010 to TRMA
2022 across all three dimensions, while the domestic market prices in Latin America, where prices
have considerably decreased;
Domestic and export market prices are highest in Asia. Asia is followed by Africa and Latin America
that shows the lowest price level across all dimensions.
In most countries the domestic and export market prices show a distinct gradation across the three
dimensions small, medium and large. The domestic market prices of larger logs are 1.5 to 4 times
higher than the prices of smaller logs..

Photo W. Kollert

Markets and Trade - International trade in teak round wood In 2022, the international trade in teak roundwood wasgoverned by India that imported 97 percent of the total
trade volume from 43 source countries.
 More than two thirds (72.5 percent) of India´s import
volume was sourced from Latin American countries andAfrican countries covering the remaining one quarter(25 percent).
 Major roundwood exporters in Latin America
Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Brazil and Costa Rica.

- Major round wood exporters in Africa - Ghana, Nigeriaand Benin. South Sudan and Tanzania did not show up
in the statistics as there is a ban on log exports.
 The roundwood imports appears to be good withaverage values (CIF) ranging from 363 USD/m3 for logs
imported from Latin America to 458 USD/m3 fromAfrica.

The top ten countries exporting teak roundwood toIndia in 2022 (Source: UN Comtrade database)Markets and Trade - International trade in teak sawnwood
The top five importers of teak sawntimber 2022
 The leading sawntimber exporter is Singapore covering 38 percent of thetotal exports. The city state is reported to be the business location of 261
active teak wood companies that trades with 200 suppliers worldwide(Volza Grow Global, 2023).
 The major exporter in South America is Brazil accounting for 24 percentof the total trading volume, while Nicaragua in Central America covers 8percent of the total.
 In Asia, besides Singapore, Myanmar is an important sawntimber
exporter (12 percent of the total). The biggest exporter in Africa is theThe top five exporters of teak sawntimber 2022
United Republic of Tanzania accounting for 7 percent of the worldexports.
 The Netherlands serve as an inter-European trading hub for teaksawntimber. The country imports teak sawntimber from 29 countries andre-exports it to many other European countries.

Environmental and social aspects
The global increase of about 500,000 hectares in planted teak forests raises concerns about
environmental and social impacts, such as biodiversity, water supply, soil erosion, carbon sequestration,and landscape management. However, these systems can provide a multitude of positive environmental
and social features as:
Socio-economic significance: The vast majority (99 percent) of planted teak forests are grown fortimber production. As such, planted teak forests can support rural livelihoods, help communities improvetheir standard of living, provide a financially attractive option for forest landscape restoration andcontribute to sustainable development.
Multiple values: Planted teak forests can reduce the pressure on natural teak forests for forest
products and allow them to be designated for other protection and conservation purposes. They canalso complement and supplement the REDD and REDD+ initiatives.
Ecological landscape element: Planted teak forests form ecological corridors and maintain biologicalconnectivity in the landscape, particularly where intact remnants of natural forest are maintained within
the planted area as reservoirs for biodiversity conservation.

Contd…
High carbon sequestration: Planted teak forests are a fast-growing resource with the capacity to sequester
carbon on a large scale, helping to mitigate climate change.
Continent
AfricaAsia and Oceania
Latin America
WorldArea
1000 ha
625.593,866.95
360.854.853.39MAI
m3/ha/yr
10.5
14.5
16.1
14.1*

Carbon capture
Gg CO2/yr
2,162.94
7,930.78
18,462.98
67,697.61
1,913.01
7,014.38
22,538.94
82,642.77

103 tons C/yr

Notes: *weighted average; Gg = Gigagrams; 1 Gg is equivalent to 1,000 tons.
Calculation method according to the IPCC Good Practice Guidance for Land Use, LandUse Change and Forestry (GPG-LULUCF).
Source: Glauner, 2024.

A model calculation based on IPCC technical specifications shows that the area of 4.85 million hectares ofplanted teak in the world would have the potential to sequester annually 22.54 million tonnes of carbon or
82.64 million tons of CO2. For the investor, carbon sequestration is seen as an additionality or environmental
service that adds value to the resource and can help increase its cash flow. Even after harvesting, teak ismainly used in durable products and is a good choice for generating carbon credits.

Summary and Conclusions
The global situation. Teak grows in nearly 80 countries in tropical regions.

The growing importance of teak. The global import value of teak roundwood is estimated at USD 311.6
million and represents 10.1 percent of the total import value of non-coniferous tropical industrial roundwood
from all tropical countries, and exceeds its share of global production.

Natural teak forests. The area of natural teak forests in India, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Thailand combined wasestimated at 30.215 million ha, of which more than half is in Myanmar. Over a decade, natural teak forests haveincreased by 1.180 million ha globally (+4.1 percent).

Planted teak - an emerging global hardwood resource. The global area of planted teak forests is estimatedat 4.854 million hectares, of which 80 percent is in Asia, 13 percent in Africa and 7 percent in Latin America.
The global area of planted teak forests has increased by 507 thousand hectares from 2010. Significant
increases were recorded in Asia (+261 thousand ha) and Africa (+156 thousand ha).

Age class distribution and rotation age: The majority of planted teak (94 percent) is less than 40 years oldresulting in a significant increase in the supply of small diameter logs to the international market as a generalutility timber.

Ownership: Public ownership is still prevalent in Africa, but a shift towards private ownership is evident in many
countries. A quarter of the world's planted teak forests (1.2 million hectares) are owned and managed bysmallholders.

Contd…
Growth performance. The vast majority of planted teak (99 percent) is grown and managed for timber production. The
mean annual increment (MAI) reported in most countries for TRMA 2022 does not exceed 12 m3/ha/year.

Log harvesting. The production of mature, high quality teak is limited to the traditional producers of Myanmar, as well
as India, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. The data reported for TRMA 2022 suggest that the supply of teak from naturalforests is declining to below 0.5 million m3, while the supply of teak from planted forests is estimated to be around two
million m3 per year.

Trade. The international teak market has been and will continue to be driven by trends in the Asian market. Asia holds
more than 95 percent of the world's teak resources and India alone manages 35 percent of the world's planted teakforests. The salient points in the timber trade are:a. India remains the dominant trading power in the teak roundwood and sawntimber market. India imports 97 percentof the total trade volume from 43 source countries. The second largest importer is China with 2.5 percent of thetotal.
b. Important trading centers with little or no teak resources have developed in Singapore for teak roundwood andsawntimber, and in the Netherlands for teak sawntimber;c. An increasingly important issue affecting the trade in plantation grown teak is forest management certification andlegality.
d. Meeting consumer expectations and legal requirements significantly influence growers and processors, particularly
those dependent on the markets in North America and Europe.

Acknowledgements
IUFRO, Vienna
FAO, RomeRegional Coordinators
Country level contributors
KFRI, India

Thank YouWe invite you to the 5th World Teak Conference (17 – 20 Sep 2025 atGrand Hyatt, Kochi, Kerala , India)