Furniture, wood & rattan
Indonesian teak root furniture
Teak root furniture is made from the stumps and root systems left after plantation trees are felled, worked into tables, benches and sculptural pieces. Every piece is unique by nature, cracking is a property of the material rather than a defect, and the timber documents apply exactly as they do to sawn teak.
How it leaves the country.
- Root tables and benches
- A stump or root mass worked flat on top and left sculptural underneath. The largest category and the heaviest to ship.
- Sculptural and decorative pieces
- Bowls, stools, plinths and objects, following the shape of the material rather than a drawing.
- Root with a glass or slab top
- The root as a base with a separate top, which makes the piece usable and the shipping simpler.
- Raw root sections
- Cleaned and dried but unworked, for buyers who finish at destination. Cheaper and it moves the finishing risk to you.
How it is graded.
Nothing here is graded, because no two pieces are the same. What a buyer specifies instead is a set of properties and a tolerance for variation, plus photographs of the actual pieces.
- Every piece is unique
- Ordering ten root tables means ten different objects within a size range. Buyers expecting a catalogue item are buying the wrong category.
- Cracking is the material
- Root wood carries internal stress and it checks as it dries. Filled and stabilised cracking is normal, and a piece with none has either been heavily filled or has not finished drying.
- Drying decides everything
- A root mass dries slowly and unevenly. A piece shipped before it is stable will move and split in a heated interior, and that is the recurring claim on this category.
- Finish and stabilisation
- Resin fill, bleaching and sealing all change the appearance and the durability. Specify the finish and see it on a real piece rather than in a description.
- Weight
- Solid root is dense. It changes the freight, the handling at both ends and whether a customer can actually move the piece.
How it is packed.
- Crated individually
- Bespoke crates for irregular shapes, which is a real cost and the only thing that gets a sculptural piece there intact.
- Weight, not volume
- A container reaches its weight limit with space to spare. Load planning is about distribution rather than about filling.
- Moisture in transit
- A dense piece that was dry at loading takes water back up in a sweating container. Wrapping and desiccant belong in the specification.
- Pallet and crate marking
- The wooden crates carry the heat treatment mark, checked separately from the furniture inside them.1
Where it grows.
Central Java
Java
The teak plantation belt, where clearance produces the raw material and workshops work it.
East Java
Java
Plantation areas and workshops, with the best container access through Surabaya.
Bali
Bali
Finishing and design workshops working material brought from Java, close to the hospitality market that buys it.
Choosing between this and something else.
Origins with a protected name.
Names the trade contracts on, most of them on the Indonesian register of geographical indications.
Documentation, where applicable.
- SVLK V-Legal document
- Indonesian timber legality applies to root and stump material exactly as it does to sawn wood.2
- EUDR due diligence statement
- Wood is inside the regulation, and root material needs the same plot traceability as any other timber.3
- Lacey Act declaration
- For the United States, the botanical species in Latin plus country of harvest on every plant-product entry.4
- ISPM 15 mark
- On the crates. A missing mark holds the container regardless of what is inside.1
Questions buyers ask.
Is root wood salvage, and does that change the paperwork?
It comes from stumps left after felling, so it is a by-product of plantation clearance rather than a reason to cut a tree. It changes nothing about the documents. Indonesian timber legality applies, the European deforestation regulation reaches it, and the United States needs a species declaration.
Will it crack in my customer's house?
If it was shipped before it was stable, yes, and that is the main risk on this category. Ask how it was dried and for how long, specify a moisture target for your market, and have it measured. Existing filled cracks are the material rather than a fault.
How do I order pieces I have not seen?
You do not, on a first order. Ask for photographs of the actual pieces with something for scale, agree a size range and a finish, and accept that variation within it is the product. Buyers who order from a catalogue photograph are ordering a category rather than an object.
What does your service cost?
Five per cent of the order value, paid by you and never by the factory. A factory audit starts at $250 depending on location. We work with orders from $10,000 per shipment.
Tell us what you need.
Give us the specification and the destination port. We come back with producer options and an indicative price. Our fee is 5 % of the order value, paid by you and never by the factory.
Sources
- 1ISPM 15, regulation of wood packaging material in international trade. International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC), FAO. Checked 3 August 2026.
- 2SVLK, Indonesia's timber legality assurance system. FLEGT licence information service. Checked 3 August 2026.
- 3Regulation (EU) 2023/1115, consolidated text. EUR-Lex. Checked 3 August 2026.
- 4Guidance on the Lacey Act declaration. US Customs and Border Protection. Checked 5 August 2026.