Why Sandalwood is so Expensive.

There is a main reason that why sandalwood’s prices are so high because the production of sandalwood has decreased and with that demand is going to be increasing. The strong demand and supply reflected for the heartwood and the sapwood for oil extracting. Due to sandalwood’s high value and rising demand in internal and external markets, sandalwood prices have skyrocketed. We can notice that from the year 1900 to 1990 there is a main increase of price range from 365 Rs/ton to 78000 Rs/ton.

The rise in prices is partly due to a decrease in supplies. During the 1930s through the 1950s, the country’s production was roughly 4,000 tons of heartwood a year; now it is only 2,000 tons. Demand for sandalwood oil fell sharply in the 1970s as a result of very high prices and competition from synthetic substitutes. However, this largely affected the lower-priced formulations and the natural oil has retained its market in the top grade products. Demand now is influenced mostly by supply factors and the way in which this affects prices.

Indian Sandalwood currently trades at between $30,000 and $85,000 per ton, with Sapwood prices ranging from $1,000-$2,500 per ton. The recent clamp down by authorities to stop illegal trade in sandalwood has resulted in higher prices (10-12 percent above normal) for sandalwood at recent auctions.  The volume of oil related exports does not seem to be affected.  Indian exports to the U.S. are exceeding last year’s numbers, already amassing 7,000 kilos, according to figures from the U.S Department of Commerce, 2,000 kilos more than this time last year.

Sandalwood oil Prices:
Sandalwood oil extracted from the sapwood part of the wood. Sandalwood oil is precious and used for incense purpose. Sandalwood oil is one of the most highly priced items in the essential oil trade, reflecting the nature of the raw material source and the tightness of supplies. In the late 1980s it was fetching almost US$200/kg. Throughout 1992 the price of oil of Indian origin offered by London dealers was about US$140-150/kg; Indonesian oil was about US$5 lower. In mid-1993 the price of Indian oil rose again to US$180/kg and this was still the price in early 1994.

Sandalwood oil prices have risen to $2,000 per kg recently. Sandalwood from the Mysore region of Karnataka (formerly Mysore), and Marayoor forest in kerala, Southern India is high quality. Once Sandalwood was used for making furniture and caskets, but as the tree is nearly extinct, it is only used for the distillation of oil. Because of the threat of total extinction, this oil is now very well controlled in India – but has caused the price of this very fine oil to soar, and become one of the most expensive essential oils on the market – and for that reason we offer the pure oil, as well as a more affordable blend which contains 25% of the pure oil.

The prized properties of the Sandalwood tree are concentrated in the heartwood. As such, the price paid by a buyer will primarily depend upon the oil content and volume of the heartwood, with the more heartwood a piece of timber contains and higher the oil content, the greater its value. In addition to this, timber that has been value-added and timber that have been harvested from native stands will attract higher prices.

Article Coutesy : Hosursandal

Contact:
EDS Farms Private Limited
W101, 2nd Avenue, Anna Nagar ,
Chennai-600040, Tamilnadu.
044 45058348 | 42612288,
7358598899,7358596677
info@edsfarms.com
www.edsfarms.com

Monopoly of sandalwood trade and its consequences

Sandalwood as a prospective economic resource had played an important role in many of Krishnadevaraya’s (the famous ruler of Vijayanagara Dynasty) expeditions to different parts of the Deccan during the early part of the 16th century13. Tippu Sultan who ruled the Kingdom of Mysore had declared sandalwood tree as a royal tree and took over sandalwood trade of the state on a mono-poly basis around 1792 (ref. 14). This practice was con-tinued by the later Maharajas of Mysore and subsequently by the Karnataka Government until recently. The extrac-tion and disposal of sandalwood came under the jurisdic-tion of the Forest Department in 1864. The classification of the sorted sandalwood into 18 classes was introduced in 1898 (ref. 15) (Table 1; Figure 2).

Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar (1884–1940) (aka Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV), whose period of sovereignty is often described as the Golden Age of Mysore, was instrumental in conceiving the idea of starting a sandal-wood oil factory. Outbreak of the World War I had a severe impact on the forest economy of Mysore due to discontinuation of the traditional export markets for san-dalwood. Out of 1313 tonnes of sandalwood offered for sale in 1914–15, only 70 tonnes could be disposed off. And the huge stock of unsold wood was fortuitously no-ticed by the Maharaja of Mysore, during his visit to the Forest Department at Sankey Road in Bengaluru in 1916. It dawned upon him that oil should be extracted from this stock to obtain a high value-added product. After discuss-ing this matter with the then Dewan of Mysore, M. Vis-vesvaraya and Alfred Chatterton, the first Director of Industries and Commerce of erstwhile State of Mysore, the first sample of sandalwood oil was extracted under the leadership of professors J. J. Sudbourough and H. E. Watson, scientists working at the Indian Institute of Sci-ence (IISc), Bengaluru16. After the successful operation, a sandalwood oil distillery was started in 1916 in the vici-nity of Sankey Tank, Malleswaram, Bengaluru. This unit was later shifted to Mysore in 1917 and eventually became the renowned Government Sandalwood Oil Fac-tory. The Mysore sandal oil gained international popular-ity for its fine quality.

Over 70 years ago, nearly 90% of the natural sandal-wood populations occurred in the southern part of Karna-taka and northern part of Tamil Nadu17. Excessive harvesting without replenishment of this invaluable re-source has substantially reduced the sandalwood industry, resulting in global shortage and soaring of market prices. Importantly, S. album has been categorized as ‘vulner-able’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 1997. In Karnataka, sandalwood populations are sparse and devoid of larger girth classes; mature trees have been nearly vandalized. The major cause of the decline of sandalwood has been smug-gling.

The monopolistic rule on sandalwood had prevented anyone excepting the personnel of Forest Department to harvest and sell it. Unlike the situation with major com-mercial timber tree species such as teak, sal, pine, deodar, oak, acacia, eucalyptus, casuarina, willow and poplar in India, sandalwood stands out as one species for which no organized plantations have been established. Realizing the disadvantages of this rule and taking cognizance of the grim situation, the Governments of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu promulgated The Karnataka Forest (Amend-ment) Act 2001 and The Tamil Nadu Forest (Amendment) Act 2002 respectively. The former Act clearly stated that ‘every occupant or the holder of land shall be legally entitled to the sandalwood tree in his land’. At that point of time, the owners had no option but to sell sandalwood exclusively to the Forest Department. Presently, the Gov-ernment of Karnataka has authorized Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Limited and the Karnataka State Handi-crafts Development Corporation to buy sandalwood directly from the landowners20. Although the debate on the consequences of this amendment is outside the pur-view of this article, it has paved the way for encouraging community and private entrepreneurs to cultivate sandal-wood which is in great demand.

Courtesy : Sandalwood: history, uses, present status and the future
A. N. Arun Kumar*, Geeta Joshi and H. Y. Mohan Ram

Contact:
EDS Farms Private Limited
W101, 2nd Avenue, Anna Nagar ,
Chennai-600040, Tamilnadu.
044 45058348 | 42612288,
7358598899,7358596677
info@edsfarms.com
www.edsfarms.com

Invest in nature for a high returns

Santalum album is commonly Known as Indian sandalwood is threatened species of trees indigenous to south india. Highest quality sandalwood that grows in the western ghats is widely used in the cosmentic industry and also in the medical industry. It  is a protected species and the natural resources are fastly depleting. With the demand increasing the TAMIL NADU government made private sandalwood plantations legal through the G.O Ms. No. 140
EDS Farms offers you a lucrative opportunity to maximize your profits by investing in sandalwood plantation. Come indulge in the sweet fragrance of growth & prosperity. “your Land Your Tree, Our Service”  is our business philosophy.
EDS Farms – Experts – View

Dr. H S Anantha Padmanabha – Celebrity Scientist for Sandalwood

He is a consultant to the World’s No. 1 and the largest sandalwood supplier TFS (Tropical Forestry Services, WA), growing Indian sandalwood. “The company has 10,000 hectares of Indian sandalwood of different age group. Every year they are planting sandalwood in about 1000 hectare.

Dr. H S Anantha Padmanabha is also our EDS Farms Pvt Ltd consultant, doing regular visits to the plantations and provides advice related to the growth, maintenance and nurturing of the plants.

Please read the extract about him below…

Dr. H S Anantha Padmanabha, the forestry consultant, is an expert on sandalwood cell biology, who mastered the technology of artificial rising of sandalwood. A scientist of 40 years experience in forestry in India, he had worked as a senior scientist at the Institute of Wood Science and Technology in Bangalore (India) from 1964 to 1998 and was responsible for guiding research projects on sandalwood and other forestry species including but not limited to techniques of growing sandalwood and decease and pests affecting forestry tree species.

Currently he is a Director of Karnataka Research Foundation and Advance Technology Transfer, Bangalore, Consultant to Tropical Forestry Services Western Australia, consultant to Forest Rewards, Western Australia, and had served as consultant to Department of Conservation and Land Development (CALM) and Forest Product Commission (FPC) Government of Western Australia from 1998 to 2002. He is honorary consultant to Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Ltd, Bangalore, assisting and providing guidance to Farmers, Corporates and NGO’s in growing sandalwood in India.

He has co-authored books on sandalwood and have published over 150 publications in both Indian and International journals. He was designated as chief Technical Advisor for sandalwood projects with the World Bank FREE project (ICFRE) Government of India.

Contact:
EDS Farms Private Limited
W101, 2nd Avenue, Anna Nagar ,
Chennai-600040, Tamilnadu.
044 45058348 | 42612288,
7358598899,7358596677
info@edsfarms.com
www.edsfarms.com

10 Reasons why you should invest in EDS Farms Sandalwood Plantations

1. Asset Backed Investment model which means you will be getting land along with sandalwood trees and there would be great appreciation for both of them.

2. Well planned plots with wide roads and road connectivity to each and every plot without any issues.

3. The plots are situated very much nearer to towns like Vellore, Arcot, Arani, Arakkonam and major cities such as Chennai and Bangalore.

4. Plots with sandalwood trees are available at unbelievably affordable prices and the investment will provide a huge return after the maturity.

5. Clear title and Patta transfer to buyers name for the land and proper agreement for the cultivation, maintenance and monitoring of the sandalwood trees.

6. Sandalwood trees are legally grown in residential plots with proper care and maintenance from high end experts who have decades of experience in farming sandalwood trees.

7. Drip Irrigation and fertilizers are provided to each and every sandalwood tree that gets planted in the and with regular monitoring.

8. Incomparable security measures such as first level solar fencing, second level wire mesh fencing, 24/7 security guards.

9. After the harvest of the Sandalwood trees you would be having a fertile land with very good ground water which can be used for construction as well as gardens.

10. When every investment in land affects ecology by one way or other your investment at EDS, absolutely helps ecology, improves water table and reduces carbon footprints.

Contact Details:

EDS Farms Private Limited
W101, 2nd Avenue, Anna Nagar ,
Chennai-600040, Tamilnadu.
044 45058348 | 42612288,
7358598899,7358596677

www.edsfarms.com

Sandalwood Trade

Excerpt from Sandalwood resource Development, research And trade in the pacific and Asian region Proceedings of the regional workshop, Port vila, vanuatu

Sandalwood heartwood and oil have increased in price throughout the entire trade history, and have escalatedin recent times (Padmanabha, 2008). For example between 1990 and 2008 the price of Indian sandalwood(Santalum album, the industry standard) heartwood showed a compound increase of 21%, with the price ofIndian Sandalwood oil doubling in early 2005, due to imbalances in supply and demand.

Current official supply of Indian Sandalwood is about 500 tonnes per year from the annual auction held inTamil Nadu, India in November of each year. The current consumption of Indian Sandalwood is 3000 tonnesper year based on amount of product released each year into the market. The demand for sandalwood isexpected to remain high due to its broad range of high value uses, including medicines and perfumery.

Sandalwood has been used for medicinal purposes throughout India and Asia since 2000 BC. There aremany uses in personal hygiene, such as chewable mouth fresheners that are popular in India and Pakistan.A fairly recent use is in aromatherapy where sandalwood is believed to have calming qualities.

Sandalwood oil has also been found to contain cancer fighting qualities and a cream is in the final stages of developmentat John Hopkins Institute in the USA. There is also interest in the use of sandalwood in treatment of humanpapillomavirus but there might be other cheaper and more effective products available such as virgin coconut oil.

Perfumes account for 10% of market for sandalwood product. Since 1750, there have been 7,000 classifiedfragrances of which 3212 (or 46%) contain sandalwood notes (Choueiri, 2008). Approximately 200 new perfumes or fragrances containing sandalwood are released each year. There is also an increasing use of synthetic substitutes, but the market would prefer authentic sandalwood oil if there were: an assured and consistent supply, an affordable price and it could be proven to be from legal and ethical sources. Tropical Forestry Services, who have major sandalwood plantations in north-western Australia, have pre-sold 40% of its first five years of sandalwood oil supply to Lush (handmade cosmetics manufacturer) and Albert Vielle (a firm specialising in supply of essential oils).

Contact Details:

EDS Farms Private Limited
W101, 2nd Avenue, Anna Nagar ,
Chennai-600040, Tamilnadu.
044 45058348 | 42612288,
7358598899,7358596677

info@edsfarms.com
www.edsfarms.com