Furniture, wood & rattan
Hardwood flooring
Indonesian flooring is made in solid and engineered forms from teak, merbau, acacia and other tropical hardwoods. Species decides hardness and colour, construction decides stability, and moisture content decides whether the floor gaps or cups after it is laid.
How it leaves the country.
- Solid strip and plank
- One piece of hardwood. Most character, least stability across humidity swings, and it can be sanded repeatedly.
- Engineered
- A hardwood wear layer over a plywood core. Far more stable and the wear layer thickness decides how many times it can be refinished.
- Parquet and mosaic
- Small pieces laid in patterns. Labour intensive and a real Indonesian capability.
- Unfinished or prefinished
- Site finished gives a seamless surface and adds weeks. Factory finished is more consistent and shows the joints.
How it is graded.
Three specifications decide the outcome, and the invisible one causes almost all the failures.
- Moisture content
- Set for the destination climate rather than the origin one. A floor made at tropical equilibrium and laid in a heated house shrinks and gaps.
- Species
- Teak, merbau, acacia and others differ in hardness, colour and movement. Merbau in particular bleeds a resin that stains grout and pale surfaces.
- Grade
- How much sapwood, knot and colour variation is acceptable. Grade names differ between suppliers so it has to be agreed against samples.
- Milling tolerance
- Tongue and groove fit, thickness and squareness. Loose tolerances make a floor slow and expensive to lay.
- Wear layer
- On engineered flooring, how thick the hardwood face is. It decides refinishing life and it is where cheap product cuts corners.
- Legality documents
- Tropical hardwood into the EU and the US requires evidence of legal origin, which is a document exercise rather than a quality one.
How it is packed.
- Sealed cartons on pallets
- Flooring moves with humidity through the pack, so sealed packaging is part of the specification.
- Acclimatisation
- Boards need time at destination conditions before laying. Tell the installer, because this is where most complaints originate.
- Weight
- Dense hardwood. A container weighs out well before it fills, so the loading plan is a payload calculation.
- Wood packaging rules
- Pallets and crates carry their own treatment and marking requirement.
Where it grows.
Central Java
Java
Established flooring and moulding manufacturers with export experience and legality documentation.
East Java
Java
Manufacturing with a route through Surabaya and access to plantation teak.
Kalimantan
Kalimantan
Hardwood supply with processing, and where legality documentation deserves the most attention.
Choosing between this and something else.
Documentation, where applicable.
- SVLK certificate
- Indonesian timber legality, and the basis of what an EU or US buyer needs to see.1
- Lacey Act declaration
- For the United States, naming species, country of harvest, quantity and value. Filed by the importer.2
- Certificate of analysis
- Moisture content and dimensional tolerance on the shipped lot.
- ISPM 15 mark
- On the pallet and any crate, regulated separately from the goods.3
Questions buyers ask.
What moisture content should I specify?
It depends on the destination climate and the heating, so it is a number to agree with your own technical people. What matters is that a number exists, is measured at loading and is checked on arrival.
Does merbau really stain?
It contains a water-soluble extractive that bleeds and stains grout and light surfaces, particularly early in the floor's life. It is a known characteristic rather than a defect, and installers need to be told.
Solid or engineered?
Engineered for underfloor heating, over concrete, and anywhere humidity swings. Solid where the floor will be sanded many times over decades and the environment is stable.
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
- 1SVLK, Indonesia's timber legality assurance system. FLEGT licence information service. Checked 3 August 2026.
- 2Guidance on the Lacey Act declaration. US Customs and Border Protection. Checked 5 August 2026.
- 3ISPM 15, regulation of wood packaging material in international trade. International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC), FAO. Checked 3 August 2026.