India eyeing rubber wood exports to China

India is eyeing China's booming construction and furniture market to export rubber wood, an eco-friendly alternative to solid wood that is gaining popularity world-wide, official sources said in Beijing on Thursday.

"We are seriously looking at adding China to our export market in addition to the United States, Japan, Singapore, United Kingdom and the Middle East," N Rajagopal, a Rubber Board official, who is heading the delegation which participated in the 'International exhibition on furniture world and wood working machinery, China 2003', said.

The Rubber Board, which ventured into China for the first time to participate in the four-day exhibition, which concluded in Beijing on Thursday, received "very good" market response, he said, adding China could be one of the biggest markets for Indian rubber wood, a plantation timber.

"We have received 37 serious inquires from Chinese firms for rubber wood," Rajagopal, an official with the department of processing and product development of the Rubber Board, said.

With China embarking on a massive construction spree and the people's living standard rising, the demand for wood, furniture and fixtures are also increasing at a fast pace, industry sources said.

With a number of Indian companies possessing the latest rubber wood processing technology, India could export quality wood to China at reasonable price, Rajagopal said.

A rubber tree will have a useful economic life pan of 22 to 29 years after which it has to be replanted. Thus the rubber plantation is a sustainable source of rubber as well as timber, contributing positively to the environment, he said.

With over 5,30,000 acres under rubber, India is now the third largest producer of natural rubber in the world. Until recently, most of these discarded trees were used only as fuel in many parts of the country.

In India, rubber is predominantly a small holders' crop and over 87 per cent of the rubber is from this sector, according to Rubber Board statistics.

The present total availability of rubber wood in India is estimated at 1.6 million cubic meters per annum and it is expected to be 2.5 times by the end of the decade.

Rubber wood is classified as a light hardwood. The industrial articles made from rubber wood include: building components, furniture and furniture components, household wooden ware, parquet flooring and plywood.

While acknowledging that raw rubber wood will have to be treated as soon as the trees are cut to prevent bacteria and fungi attack, he said latest technologies, including pressure treatment, prevents the wood from decaying and future termite attack.

While a big demand-supply gap in the Indian timber market has forced builders and interior decorators to go for imports or for substitutes, they are not aware that processed rubber wood can be used in place of wood substitutes including plastic.

To correct the public perception about rubber wood, the board plans to do more to promote the usefulness of rubber wood, Rajagopal added.