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Frequently asked questions
Below are some answers from ISF director Rob Boshammer to common questions about ISF and our operations.
How much will the sandalwood be sold for?
As of November 2024, it's difficult to say what the sale price of sandalwood will be by the time we harvest. Current estimates are speculative as the market is complex. We have received an offer of $20,000 per tonne of dry heartwood over the next five years, which will be our entire supply. This is not an offer we are keen on as the market is currently in a glut, and we are predicting a price rebound in the following years.
The basis of sandalwood pricing is the total oil content of the wood, with no real effect from processing costs. The present value of Sandalwood oil, which is currently in oversupply, seems to be around $1000 per kilogram. If our sandalwood averages 3.5% extractable oil, then there is $35 of oil per kilogram of heartwood. Sandalwood oil price over the past 10 years seems to have been between $1000-$4000 per kilogram, with a standard closer to $2000.
How do you know the approximate value of your sandalwood?
The truth is, right now, we don't. We have an idea based on surveying the sandalwood while it's in the field, but we won't know until we harvest it. ISF has committed one paddock to be harvested next year and sold at $20/kilogram of heartwood. Once this happens, we will have a firm understanding of harvest costs, yield, and quality of the sandalwood for you. The buyer of this sandalwood is only interested if the heartwood exceeds 35 mm in diameter. They have also agreed to undertake harvest for 6-7k per hectare, which comes in comfortably under the maximum stated in the contract.
What will the sandalwood yield be?
We are expecting ten kilograms of heartwood per tree, and our plantations are averaging three hundred trees per hectare. I have heard of yields of about one to five tonnes per hectare harvested at 14–15 years old. However, the yield and oil content will be far better if the trees are harvested at closer to twenty years old. There is also obfuscation in sandalwood yield statements, prices may refer to dry heartwood, wet heartwood, wet or dry wood, bark on or off. I believe this is used in the industry to keep prices unclear.
What about MIS Growers on other people's land/in other years?
Quintis and the administrators have been unwilling to share information with us about which growers are on which land title.
