There are more than 20 types of pine wood with different species names. Two kinds of pine wood are often used and generally known to have good quality: Pinus Radiata and Pinus Merkusii (Merkus Pine). PINUS RADIATA (Radiata Pine) Growing Area: Australia (740 thousand hectares), Chile (about 1.3 million hectares), New Zealand (1.2 million hectares), South Africa and America. The largest known forest for this timber is in Chile. Some exporters also come from New Zealand but are not purely plantation. Usually, New Zealand exports this wood already in S2S or S4S form.

Tree characteristics: Between the age of 15 – 25 years, the Radiata Pine wood can have a trunk diameter of 30 – 80 cm and a height between 15 – 30 meters. Radiata Pine is a type of tree that grows fast and has straight trunks.

Wood Colour: The heartwood is brownish red, and the sapwood is yellow and cream. The circular line of the radiata pine is distinctly visible, so the wood grain lines on the tangential division can also be seen clearly.

Density: 480 – 520 kg/m3 at 12% MC

Wood grain: Tends to be straight but has lots of knots because the radiata pine tree has many small branches on its trunk.