One of the more popular tropical hardwood lumber species we provide customers is Spanish Cedar, (Cedrella Odorata). But don't be miss led by the name! What we refer to as Spanish Cedar is not from Spain. In reality, it is not really a cedar either. Years ago, probably up until the late 1990’s Spanish Cedar was most commonly sourced from South American countries. The trees that this species is harvested from are actually part of the mahogany family, Meliaceae. This subset is also the same species that we get other familiar tropical hardwood lumber from such as Genuine Mahogany "Swietenia macrophylla", African Mahogany, Sapele and Sipo. (All species by the way that we inventory in our Cove City North Carolina facility.)
Today the majority of the Spanish Cedar sold in the United States originates from Africa. This hardwood lumber is primarily plantation grown and originates in Ghana and the Ivory Coast. For us, we utilize a team of trusted hardwood suppliers in this region to source our hardwood lumber. Some of our relationships with these sawmill owners go back twenty years which enables us to provide our customers a consistent and reliable supply of Spanish Cedar.
Spanish Cedar, Cedrella Odorata, is a very light wood. It weighs only about 2.4 pounds per board foot, so it is common for us to be able to ship nearly 18,000 board feet as a full load, (container or flatbed truck). The lengths are generally excellent in this product but the trees and hence the logs that are harvested from do not have large diameters. This results in widths of the lumber to not be extremely wide. And when it comes to available thicknesses, we typically have inventory in 4/4”, 6/4” and 8/4” available for prompt shipment.
So, whether you are manufacturing cigar boxes, window blinds, furniture or doors, consider Spanish Cedar! Its beautiful appearance and the light weight properties can make it ideal for many woodworking applications.
New inventories are currently on their way to our concentration yard. Be sure to look at our current imported hardwood stock list for more information.
If you would like more information, contact us today. We would be happy to help!
Jesper Bach
Baillie