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Tectona grandis, popularly know as teak, is a big size tree, native
of tropical forests at the 10th and 25th North on the Indian subcontinent
and in the Southeast asia mainly in India, Burma, Thailand, Laos,
Cambodia, Vietnam and java, Due to the geographical dispersion and
to the variety of environments where it naturally occurs, teak is
a highly adaptable specieswith vertical dispersion between 0 and
1,300 mm over the sea level, occurring in areas with rain rate over
800-2,500 mm per year, and extreme temperatures of 2-42ºC, but it
doesn´t resist to frosts.
Tectona grandis L.f. belong to the botanical family
of Verbenaceae. A large to very large deciduous tree having height
up to 35 meters; bark having brown or gray color and shallow longitudinal
furrows; Leaves simple, opposite, broadly elliptical or obovate,
acute or acuminate, coriaceous, possessing minute glandular dots;
Flowers white, many, small, having pleasant smell, in large erect
terminal branched tomentose cymose bladder like calyx; seeds usually
1-3, ovate, marble white.
Teak exhibits a wide range of colors when fresh
cut, from pale yellows to orange browns with darker striping, all
of which mellows into medium brown tones. Teak undergoes an extreme
degree of color change with pronounced color change from the highly
variegated coloring found in material fresh sanded which then darkens
to a golden brown with substantial muting of the initial color range
over time. It is one of the world´s most stable woods. It is known
to have adverse reaction reactions when many oil based finishes
are used with this wood. Many oil finishes will not dry properly
when used on Teak. In general, most water based finishes work with
it. It is known to cause both contact dermatitis and respiratory
reactions when coming into contact with the dust. Care must be taken
when cutting or sanding this wood. It can also be used for ship
building, railways, piles in harbor, bridge-building, constrution
work, furniture and cabinet work. In Brazil, teak is being managed
in cycles of 25 years cut, while in other countries it ranges from
60 to 80 years.
In 1986, the planted area was about 10 thousand hectares; and
today only in Mato Grosso there are 50 thousand ha of plantations.
Teak requires a fertile soil, permeable, well drained and with
high water retention. A study revealed that teak better develops
with a wealthy soil, organic material and maximum pH close to
neutral factor Teak needs calcium in its soil.
When the option is to produce plants by seeding it has to be
taken the care of quality of them.
The world production is about 3 million m³ per year, being the
biggest share consumed by the internal market of the producers.
International market consumes about 500 thousand cubic meters,
but the offer is still smaller then the demand.
According to marketing analyses, there will be a demand growth
due to the improvement of the standard of life in developing countries.
The diminishing of offer of other tropical wood in natural areas
(like mahogany) and the environmental awareness of the consumers,
mainly the Europeans, are also decisive factors to the increase
of the teak demand.
Brazilian market is also seen as a big potential of consume as
well as the production. So Brazil has adequate areas for teak
plantation and a tropical forest to preserve.
The biggest producers are Indonesia, Myanmar and Sri Lanka and
the biggest importers are Germany, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Denmark,
Arabic Emirates, USA, Japan, Holland, Italy and United Kingdom.
Hong Kong and Singapore are manufacturing centers and re-export
teak to Myanmar. India and Thailand besides producing have started
to import too.
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