BANGKOK: Thailand’s producers of oud are rushing to enter Saudi Arabia’s perfume market with the fragrant resin coveted in the Middle East, as they seek a new world of opportunities after a recent resumption of ties between the two kingdoms.
Known as “liquid gold,” oud oil is derived from increasingly rare agarwood trees and has been the basis of many high-end fragrances. Exuded by these trees as a protection from mold, the sticky resin has a unique spicy, woody, ambery and animalistic scent.
Native to Southeast Asia, oud is particularly prized in the Middle East, with its oil turned into perfume and bark into incense, which is often burned at homes to welcome guests and in religious rituals, including Islamic purification.
Thailand’s largest oud producer is the Trat province, near the Cambodian border, where the resin is extracted from over 4.1 million trees, reaching annual exports of more than $130 million, according to Trat Federation of Thai Industries data.
“Thailand is the world’s leading exporter of oud oil, with the finest quality,” Chalermchai Sommung, president of the Agarwood Community of Thailand, told Arab News.
“Our Trat species has the greatest scent on the planet.”
For Sommung the ruby red Trat oud is “more valuable than gold.” And its worth is increasing, as many decades of overlogging the evergreen Aquilaria trees in Asia have depleted its supply on the international market.
A kilogram of woodchips at D.D. Oud Oil in Bangkok, a shop run by Dum Phutthakaesorn, president of the Trat Agarwood Association, can cost up to $5,300.
The price of oil is even higher — it takes about a kilogram of agarwood to yield just 1 milliliter of oud resin.
While some 75 percent of Trat oud is already exported to the Middle East, according to the Thai Customs Department, producers are now seeking to focus especially on Saudi Arabia, seeing a great opportunity to expand after the restoration of bilateral ties between the two kingdoms earlier this year.
The relationship was renewed when Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha visited Riyadh in January, in what was the first top leadership meeting between Thailand and Saudi Arabia since the late 1980s.
The visit was followed by a series of cooperation agreements, including in investment and trade.
For oud producers, it opened a new horizon to expand.
“Saudi Arabia’s market has a large volume. As a result, everyone wants to get into that market as quickly as possible and connect the links as soon as possible,” Yuwapak Saktangcharoen, sales and marketing director of Treedom Oud, one of the leading Thai manufacturers of agarwood oil, told Arab News.
“I recently traveled to the Middle East and Saudi Arabia and sampled non-Thai oud and discovered that it is very different, right down to the woodchips. What distinguishes Thai oud and makes it popular among locals is the cleanliness of our woods.”
While Saktangcharoen, Chalermchai, Dum and others are still exploring the olfactory preferences of their Saudi clients, who differ from their customers in Asia, they know they must be quick to grasp the opportunity.
“Understanding the Middle Eastern market is the right approach. If we want to look at sustainability, we must immerse ourselves in their culture and fully comprehend their demands,” Saktangcharoen said.
“We have to be an early bird, you know. Getting in touch with them as soon as possible. We then may be the market leader, that is our goal.”
