My experience with teak.

[Jotham79]

Months ago I said I was selling my teak and would post an update when finished. 15 years ago I planted about 7 rai with teak trees. I planted around 1700 trees at 2m x 2m. We were paid for the first 3 years a small amount the government paid to encourage reforestation. At those dimensions we should have thinned half the trees at 8 years, but the wife got talked out of it by the folks who buy the trees. We lost a few and culled some that weren’t growing well and finally at 13 years we thinned down to about 800 trees. They were very tall and straight, but didn’t have the diameter as they would have with we had thinned at the right time. Earlier this year we sold the lot for 120,000 baht so we could plant corn and possibly sell the land (land there is going up in price quickly and difficult to sell with the trees there). When all is said and done I will make very little as I have had a back hoe come in to remove the stumps. I could have just planted more trees, but I can get a lot more for the land right now is I can till it. In any case I will make more money with corn over the next few years than I would have if I waited to sell the teak. It took me about 3 months to cut a deal to sell and another 4 months for a guy to come in and cut them and probably another 3 months to get the land cleared and back into shape.

There is certainly money to be made with teak, but I would make a few recommendations.

1. Use land that is worthless for just about every other purpose. Hilly land that gives at least 40 bushels of rocks per ria would be just fine.

2. Location: There are a lot more buyers of teak in the Lampang area and in the northwest. There is also a rail line that can ship the wood cheaper than by truck.

3. The real money is made on logs that are big enough to be turned into veneer so you really need to have a 25 year minimum time frame

[teletiger]

The OP has sold 15 year old teak trees for 150 Baht each. (5 US$)

I'm speechless...

Regards.

[Pomthai]

Surely the price is wrong. Please confirm Op.

[Jotham79]

The number of trees was an estimate and it could have been as low as 700?, but that pricing is correct. The farm next to me sold off teak a year earlier, but it's trees were 2 years older and originally planted 4m x 4m so were a little larger. They got more, but still not good enough. On the plus side you can buy teak processed at very reasonable prices.

[canuckamuck]

That's about the price of a 2x4 for a tree

[teletiger]

Just out of curiosity......my local reclaim guy phoned a big lumberyard in Chiang Mai (San Sai). 860 Baht for a 3 metre section of 4x2 inch (10x5 cm) teak,

Regards.

[Canada]

In defense of the OP, guys in this area buy parcels of teak and cut it. transport it and sell it themselves. It seems to me that they pick it up fairly cheap. I would say that like anything else, the money is in the middle man and the final sale. Farmers really need to put more effort into selling. From what I can see, they (we) put our effort into the growing of the product and then get &^#%ed over by everybody down the line. We took it up the %$#ss on our cane this year. We have resolved to sell it to the factory ourselves next year, though that'll be difficult for us as we are "fully in" on the growing with little capital (none) for a truck(s). We'll need to make the transition somehow. it'll be the one thing that makes this a profitable venture. As it is, it seems to be pretty much a wash, if you don't count the lifestyle of a farmer as being worth anything.

[Jotham79]

There are very strict rules about who you can sell to. Only government certified buyers can buy teak. We had a visit from 2 brokers and negotiated a deal, then it took almost 2 months for the Amphoe to issue the letter and stamp so we could sell and the trees could me moved from the land. The broker got a commission and the buyer took a cut and paid for a crew to set up a small sawmill on my farm. .

The purpose of this post is to inform others. Things are not the way I was lead to believe. Once I understood how things stood, I got out. I just thought others should know the story

[canuckamuck]

I would love to hear from more people who have sold teak recently, not that I doubt your story, but I would like to know if this is something everyone is facing.

Your teak should have been worth considerably more. I know that I pay a lot more than that for ordinary lumber. Teletiger points out that a single 3 meter 2x4 is worth 6 of your full trees at final sale. There is something seriously wrong with that.

It seems to me that they have created a situation where people have little choice but to sell through illegal channels.

[kurnell]

I have a friend who is trying to export his teak trees but has no idea how to go about it.

[apache9441]

I remember chopping down a few years ago, what I think was a 15 year old or thereabouts teak tree on my place that appeared to have gone dormant or died.

I got a local guy to saw it into planks using a chainsaw. we used the wood for a roof on a garage extension, it saved me about 6000 baht in timber.

The real value of your teak was probably about 20 times what they paid you. ! ... Did the Teak Buyer have a big smile on his face from his ass to his ear ?

having said that, I don't doub't you got the going rate as the farmer unfortunately .

[farmerjo]

I cut down what i had on land i brought for power poles,did a good job for 6 years,then pulled them down and made charcoal out of them.

No easy way to make money in farming here.

Glad your sharing your experience OP for the wanna get rich newbies.

[brianP]

You'd of done better to sell Xmas trees.

[thinkingofhow]

Chinese Thais account for 14% of the population, but run the country (yellow shirts) own 90% of the businesses and #$&&* the #$&& out of native Thais which account for 76% of the population. look around you...guys...wake up

[UdeBoCM]

I have a friend who is trying to export his teak trees but has no idea how to go about it.

You can't export logs. Teak has to be processed into furniture, handicrafts, etc... to be able to get an export permit

At 15 years the wood did not mature enough to produce good wood, With good soil, at the base of the trees let say you can get a diameter of max. 25 maybe 30 cm, Of this you will barely get 10 cm at the core that is good enough to be worked, the rest is sapwood, prone to insect (and termites) appetite. Of course it can be harvested to be used as shack posts or other temporary use, and you can't expect to get a good price for it.

When you plant teak, you have to bear in mind that it is not for our own profit but for your grand-children's. To get the best of teak wood it can't be cut before it reaches at least 70 years old, before that the heart is not mature/strong enough and does not last as long as older wood. At 80 years old in good environment the heart wood may reach 60-70 cm and this will be fine enough to be worked into furniture or carpentry.

So do think about future generations, plant the trees in a land that is not too closed to the village, register your plantation at amphur and ask you kids to tell their kids to cut their trees, if they wish, in their old age. They'll have a very secure retirement...

[rotary]

I have a friend who is trying to export his teak trees but has no idea how to go about it.

Carefully........I bet there are many traps to get caught in trying to export

[sometimewoodworker]

I would love to hear from more people who have sold teak recently, not that I doubt your story, but I would like to know if this is something everyone is facing.

Your teak should have been worth considerably more. I know that I pay a lot more than that for ordinary lumber. Teletiger points out that a single 3 meter 2x4 is worth 6 of your full trees at final sale. There is something seriously wrong with that.

It seems to me that they have created a situation where people have little choice but to sell through illegal channels.

You have fallen into the common trap of forgetting, or not knowing, the process of turning a tree into the wood you buy. It takes a lot of time and storage space, or energy, to season the wood. So the original material cost, tree, is a small part of the final price.

As with many industry's it's only the large scale producers who make good money and of them only the ones who can do everything themselves who make very good money.

[Cuban]

I recall watching a programme about a long running family run lumber mill/furniture maker and the owners were proud that each generation was working timber that had been cut by the generation before them and not the trees that they themselves cut, that was just raw material for their children.

[maderaroja]

Why does the farmer not learn to cut and season the logs himself? Then, once seasoned, cut them into usable lumber? Perhaps, set up a complete vertical structure and have furniture made onsite, as well?

[Ulic]

Plant teak on land that is not good for farming, Thin it after the four years. Thin again the poorer specimens a couple

of years later. Enjoy the view and walks through the trees for the rest of your life. Your great, great grand children

will be the beneficiaries of your labour and forward planning in 100 years.

[canopy]

A little more price perspective. Earlier this year in my area of Phetchabun a team cut down teak trees from a small plantation. They cut them 6M long and laid the logs by the roadside and sold them for 3000 baht for the smallest ones of 70cm circumference up to 7000 baht for biggest of 120cm. Including papers. They sold out quickly, I think mainly to local mills.

[Naroge]

Why does the farmer not learn to cut and season the logs himself? Then, once seasoned, cut them into usable lumber? Perhaps, set up a complete vertical structure and have furniture made onsite, as well?

Cash flow.

[Jotham79]

None of my trees were anywhere near 70cm (probably less than 50 cm for the larger ones) and some were probably so small as to be near worthless. Like I said, I waited way too long to thin so they were very straight, but not very big. Every batch of trees is different in its quantity, quality, location, and even the individual strain and my point is it is not as easy or profitable as it appeared 15 years ago and the paperwork is a nightmare.

[hellodolly]

Chinese Thais account for 14% of the population, but run the country (yellow shirts) own 90% of the businesses and #$&&* the #$&& out of native Thais which account for 76% of the population. look around you...guys...wake up

Take your politics elsewhere. This is a topic about the poor return on growing teak trees.

If you think it is wrong take us through the different stages and show us the profit in each one.

Other wise you are a waste of posts.

[thaiguzzi]

I'm just doing the maths... hang on a minute... ok here goes...7 rai of rubber, 9 year old trees earn 96k per annual 9 month tapping season, this year with shitty prices. Last year a bit less, next year a bit more, and then levels out for another 20-25 years. And i thought rubber was not a great investment...

[NowImEasy]

A few years ago in Buriram, I was visiting a friend who had a Thai wife. We were driving outside the village and he showed me their land, mostly sugar and tapioca. Around the plots were planted eucalyptus trees which can be harvested relatively quickly. (8-10 years). I asked them why not plant teak to harvest in their old age? The answer was that when the trees are big, they are usually stolen in the middle of the night. Has anyone else heard this?

[apache9441]

someone said you had to wait 70 years for decent teak. maybe so but young teak is used to make furniture here. Lots of the young teak stuff about, looks like pine garden furniture. OK it's not ship building material but it does have some of the qualities. And it does have value. a 15 year old teak tree which has grown well has a value of over 5000 baht to me and it does to the Guys who may come in the night (if it's not an old wives tale) to steal them. If the teaks only worth 150 baht then they would be better foraging for mushrooms or ants eggs and leave your teak alone.

Edited December 28, 2013 by apache9441

[Chao Lao Beach]

Do you have pics of the tree's at harvest ?

[thaipod]

My wife has 65 rai of Teak in Phongphapum , Khanchanaburi . It's life span is approx 30 years and at this time we are looking to sell them , alot of them are weak trees due to not being looked after as thinned out and fertilized .

Its true about the trees being stolen . we suspectt some of the trees have been cut down by the village head as he has a teak furniture factory and every time my wifes father has approached the guy he's refuses to talk about it .

As to sell these trees we have to approach the forestry department to register them and then get a stamp and licence to transport them ,

At this stage it's a head ache.

[ozyjon]

Plant corn, i think there will be a big push in the future for bio fuel and ethanol as is in Brazil...

Just keep listening to government speeches and the slow push in that direction.

ETHANOL is the new black gold,, can we say clear gold?