Sandalwood

Sandalwood is the name given to a group of fragrant tropical woods, especially Santalum album, an evergreen hemi-parasitic tree native to south Asia.

Sandalwood is one of the world's oldest known sources of perfume whose use dates back around 4,000 years. Products include soaps, incense, medicines, aromatic timber and oil.

The vital heartwood used to produce oil forms best between 600 and 900 metres above sea level with moderate rainfall of 850 to 1200 millimetres. Touchwood's plantation conditions in Sri Lanka are ideal for growing sandalwood. Trees can reach 18 to 20 metres in height and 2.5 metres across.

Sandalwood products have been used for both ceremonial and medicinal purposes for centuries.

Ever-increasing demand and diminishing global supply has resulted in sandalwood timber and oil prices rising significantly. The global demand for sandalwood is estimated at between 6,000 to 7,000 tonnes per year.

India, the largest sandalwood producer, has reduced the permissible harvest from 3,000 tonnes in the early 1980s to less than 1,400 tonnes per year in 2003. Consequently the price of sandalwood has increased significantly from US$ 4,000 to near US$ 60,000 per tonne in 2005.

Sandalwood is the second most expensive legally harvested timber.

Sources: National Plantation Inventory, Australian National University