Rising demand

The popularity of teak has never been greater, but the natural teak forests are disappearing at an alarming rate. Global demand has increased year by year, while teak forests have fallen sharply in recent years.

Based on population growth, the UN estimates that the need for wood will grow by 50% within the next 15 years, and environmental organizations are intensifying the fight to preserve rainforests. There must and will thus be significant changes within the timber industry.

Facts:

• Thailand, Laos and India are the only countries that have natural teak forests. Thailand once had 16 million hectares of teak forests, but here there are virtually no more natural teak forests left.
  
  
• A UN report, – State of the World’s Forests 2001-, determined a decline in the world’s total forest areas of 9.4 million. ha. annually in the period 1990-2000. In 2007, the figure for the decline is slightly smaller, namely almost DKK 7 million. ha. But there is still talk of an eerily high number, equivalent to an area of ​​about 25 football fields forest, removed every minute.
  
  
• The International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) – stated in their annual report from January 2002 that imports of tropical hardwood increased by 25% between 1998-1999 with a spread of 3.6 million. m3 between imports and exports in 2000. The report also states that Latin America alone used all tropical timber harvested in the period 1998-2000.

The numbers speak for themselves. The supply of hardwood from natural forests is rapidly running out, which will lead to strict restrictions on the import and export of wood. At the same time, there is growing international demand for the protection of rainforests and legislation that ensures that imported wood only comes from plantations or from sustainable forests.

A situation that, regardless of how future legislation is implemented, will have an enormous impact on the demand and value of teak plantations and thus also on investors.