Kayukita : What Are The More Popular Malaysian Timber Species?
From rubberwood, to nyatoh, to chengal. We have access to an abundance of timber in Malaysia.
There are 4 main categories of wood in Malaysia. Heavy hardwood, medium hardwood, light hardwood and softwood.
Below is the most popular species listed by the
Malaysian Timber Industry Board
(MTIB).
Heavy Hardwood
1. Chengal (Neobalanocarpus heimii)
2. Balau / Selangan Batu (Shorea spp.)
3. Merbau (Intsia spp.)
4. Belian (Eusideroxylon zwageri)
5. Resak (Vatica spp. & Cotylelobium spp.)
Medium Hardwood
6. Kempas (Koompassia malaccensis)
7. Keruing (Dipterocarpus spp.)
8. Kapur (Dryobalanops spp.)
Light Hardwood
9. Meranti (Shorea spp.)
10. Rubberwood (Hevea brasiliensis )
11. Nyatoh (Sapotaceae spp.)
12. Ramin (Gonystylus spp.)
13. Kembang Semangkuk (Scaphium spp.)
14. Sepetir (Sindora spp. & Copaifera palustris)
15. Tualang (Koompassia excelsa)
16. Jelutong (Dyera spp.)
17. Sesendok (Endospermum spp.)
18. Durian (Coelostegia spp. / Durio spp. / Neesia spp.)
Softwood
19. Damar minyak (Agathis borneensis)
20. Podo (Podocarpus spp.)
21. Sempilor (Dacrydium spp; Phyllocladius spp.)
I’m lucky to have worked with at least 10 of them. Looking forward to experimenting with more species in the future.
Out of the 21, which of these haven’t you heard before?
- Project Kayukita, an initiative by Harith Green Carpenter, aims to educate the world about Malaysian timber, promote the usage and support the community of wood lovers in Malaysia.
