Agarwood Trade

Trade | CITES Database | Market + Prices | Cultivated vs Wild | Illegal Trade | Importers | Exporters

1. Global Demand Snapshot

  • Estimated Global Market Value: $32B+ (2024, and growing)
  • Drivers:
    • Luxury perfumery (Oud-based scents)
    • Traditional medicines (TCM, Ayurveda, Unani)
    • Spiritual/religious uses (Middle East, SE Asia)
  • High-value: Up to $100,000/kg for premium resin or oil

2. Major Trade Hubs

  • Exporters:
    • Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia, Philippines, India
  • Importers:
    • UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, China, Japan, South Korea, France

3. Export/Import Trends

  • Increasing demand for cultivated agarwood due to CITES restrictions on wild sources
  • CITES-certified supply chains are now essential
  • Digital traceability + carbon-linked resin gaining traction in GCC, EU, and China

4. Risks in the Agarwood Trade

  • Illegal logging and smuggling
  • Counterfeit products (synthetic oud, adulterated oils)
  • Lack of standardized grading & valuation systems
  • Price volatility & overharvesting threats

5. Strategic Opportunities

  • Cultivation-based business models (COPI, CAPI, PAFC, etc.) offer sustainable supply
  • Traceable + ethical value chains (via Blockchain, DNA tagging, NFC/QR/NFT)
  • Carbon credit integration: Dual-income from resin & CO₂ sequestration
  • High-margin branded oud (Ethical & terroir-based marketing)

Philippines’ Advantage

  • Native Aquilaria malaccensis species
  • Entry point to ASEAN and GCC luxury trade
  • Strong grower cooperatives (e.g., AGAP, AGAC)
  • Integrated value chain from inoculation to distillation to export

Agarwood is traded as various products and derivatives, including oil, wood, wood chips, flakes, powder, exhausted powder, carvings, and jewelry. High quality wood and oil is primarily used as incense and perfume in Middle Eastern countries (Compton and Ishihara 2004), and agarwood products have been reported as a component of many traditional Ayurvedic remedies in the Indian subcontinent and used in Asian traditional medicines for many ailments including arthritis, infections, fever, and as an analgesic (Barden et al. 2000; Kiet 2003; Lim and Anack 2010). It has also been tested for its anti-carcinogenic properties, including for pancreatic cancer (Dahham et al. 2015). It is clear that the wood has high cultural and medical significance in Asia and the Middle East. Unfortunately, wild populations of all agarwood- producing species have declined considerably over the past 20–30 years (Soehartono and Newton 2001; Chua et al. 2016).

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