Demand for Teak Lumber by Wooden Furniture Factories in Bangkok

Abstract

The variables affecting demand for teak lumber by wooden furniture factories in Bangkok were determined and  the factories’ demand for teak lumber and the teak reforestation area required to sustain teak timber supply to the factories for the next 5-year period (2011-2015) were estimated. The data was collected by a designed questionnaire interview with a sample of entrepreneurs from 73 factories. Data was analyzed using a statistical software package and the output represented using frequency, percentage, mean, and a regression equation, with a significance level of 0.01. The Durbin Watson test was also used for testing the best model.

The results indicated that the average price of  teak lumber (highly significant at the 0.01 level) was only one exogenous variable affecting the demand of wooden furniture factories in Bangkok for teak lumber . In addition, the trend of teak lumber demand during the next 5 year period (2011-2015) will decline annually. The predicted demand for teak lumber for wooden furniture converted to timber was 23,016.7 m³ which would require a teak reforestation area of 1 rai per annum. Based on the Forest Industry Organization’s teak plantation rotation of 30 years, it would require a teak plantation area of 44,838 rai to sustain the requirements of teak furniture factories in Bangkok. The results of this study could be employed as a guideline for formulating the extension program for teak reforestation under both government and private agencies in order to create a teak supply capable of meeting the requirements of the furniture factories in Bangkok and eventually for the whole country.

Keywords: demand, teak lumber, wooden furniture factory, Bangkok