Sim Bak Heng
MUAR: Durian, the king of fruits, is being threatened by a shortage of rubber wood for the furniture industry.

Although durian trees, as a source of timber, are nothing to shout about, more and more furniture makers are turning them into tables and chairs.

And many durian growers in Johor, who were hit by low prices for durian in the past years, are chopping down the trees and selling the timber for quick profits.

Muar Furniture Association deputy chairman Lim Su Kim said the industry was short of 10,000 tonnes of rubber wood a month.

This, he said, was why some furniture makers were now using low-grade durian wood and other inferior material from the forests.

“Domestic supplies of rubber wood can only meet up to 70 per cent of the industry’s needs,” he said.

“Some have to be imported from Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and India at a high cost.”

Durian wood furniture is intended for the local market as its reddish colour is not popular overseas.