Super Rich from Winning a Lottery-Chapter 348 - 244: The 6.8 Million Fake Hainan Huanghuali Furniture (Part 2)

"In the future, the market price of Dalbergia would fall below 100,000, or even lower, possibly down to 50,000."

"Is it really that exaggerated?" Yi Xiaolin was startled and gasped as he spoke.

"It's not exaggerated at all. Except for rare woods like Huanghuali and Vietnamese Huanghuali, it's not unusual for the price of any wood to plummet, even sharply."

"Don't mention Dalbergia Odorifera; even small-leaf Dalbergia will see its price fall in the future."

"Their current prices are only artificially inflated." Yi Anguo said.

"When the price of Dalbergia Odorifera halves or falls even lower, those who dealt in Dalbergia Odorifera will find themselves stuck with it."

"Since the stock of Dalbergia Odorifera is enough to last for two or three years, we don't need to buy any more, to avoid getting trapped ourselves."

As someone reborn and after many years in the rosewood furniture industry, Yi Anguo was well aware of the development trend of Dalbergia Odorifera.

From 2010 to the end of 2013 was the highlight period for Dalbergia Odorifera, with the most expensive large material selling for more than 300,000 per ton. Over a decade later, Dalbergia Odorifera's price saw its large material reduced to only 50,000 per ton, while small material was just 20,000 per ton. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

In contrast, even now, Lao's Dalbergia Cochinchinensis, which was even less expensive, saw its large planks reach up to 8 million per ton, and medium material reached hundreds of thousands per ton with small material like firewood reaching 150,000 per ton.

The current large planks of Lao's Dalbergia Cochinchinensis are expensive too, costing just over 100,000 to 200,000 per ton, while medium material is over 100,000 per ton and even small material, like firewood, costs 40,000 per ton.

But a decade earlier in 2008, the price had risen by ten to twenty times.

Yi Anguo has always been producing furniture with Dalbergia Cochinchinensis and some known as Dalbergia Odorifera, and continued purchasing Dalbergia Cochinchinensis and Odorifera wood.

Because the future will see a sharp rise in the price of these rosewood materials, including the current Dalbergia Odorifera which sells for just over 20,000 per ton, later large planks prices soar to more than 100,000 per ton, with medium materials at fifty to sixty thousand per ton.

Furniture made from Dalbergia Cochinchinensis and Odorifera is particularly easy to sell and very profitable, so they are sold without limitation.

What sells with limitations are the rare woods like Huanghuali and Vietnamese Huanghuali because these kinds of woods are quickly depleting, especially Huanghuali, where it's nearly impossible to buy them by the ton now.

Especially the large, plank, and old materials of Huanghuali have already been privately collected, almost impossible to buy even with money.

The market price of Huanghuali wood has soared to eight million, even tens of millions per ton, while Vietnamese Huanghuali's price has jumped to hundreds of thousands per ton, with quality large plank materials reaching over 2 million per ton.

But this isn't the peak yet; within a few years, Huanghuali wood's price will escalate to over 30 million per ton, potentially exceeding 40 million per ton, yet still being the kind of item where no price can buy it.

Moreover, the market value of Vietnamese Huanghuali will also reach tens of millions per ton in the future.

Due to the hot domestic market for rosewood furniture, Huanghuali wood has almost vanished and is hard to find in the market, causing people to intensely speculate on Vietnamese Huanghuali.

This year, capital entering Vietnam to acquire Vietnamese Huanghuali exceeded 2 billion and might even have reached 3 billion.

Moreover, a kind of practice called "bet on wood" has also emerged. If a Vietnamese Huanghuali tree is bought before being cut and only costs a third of the normal price.

If the tree, after being cut, has a heart that isn't empty, and can be used for large planks, then you earn a significant profit.

But if the heart is hollow or decayed, then you're up for a massive loss.

Many inexperienced newcomers are attracted to this kind of betting on wood practice.

Vietnamese Huanghuali wood is divided into northern and southern materials, with northern materials closest to the characteristics of Huanghuali, causing many domestic traders to buy northern Vietnamese Huanghuali and manufacture it into furniture to masquerade as Huanghuali furniture.

A couple bought a Haunghuali large bed crafted from a solid slab for 6.8 million, but it was later seen by an expert friend to be furniture made from Vietnamese Huanghuali.

Furniture made from Vietnamese Huanghuali only costs 800,000 in the market at this time.

Unconvinced, the couple sued the merchant, but ultimately lost the court case.

The cause for this awkward circumstance is that the rosewood standards did not include identification standards for Huanghuali.

The "National Rosewood Standard," developed by the Chinese Academy of Forestry and issued in 2000, specified furniture made from 33 types of wood in 5 genera and 8 categories could be called rosewood furniture.

Listed rosewood materials are those available on the market and used in ancient rosewood furniture, with Vietnamese Huanghuali, which is physically similar to Hainan Huanghuali, included in the standard and classified as Dalbergia Odorifera species.

However, the most precious Hainan Huanghuali was not included in the standard. The principal person involved in drafting the standard later revealed that during state investigation, Hainan Huanghuali couldn't be found in the market, hence not included.

It is said that apart from genuine antiques, all current Hainan Huanghuali transactions are in the "grey area" and are strictly illegal.

According to Hainan's forestry department, to this day, not one timber trading market has been approved for wild Hainan Huanghuali trading, nor has any factory been approved for wild Hainan Huanghuali processing qualifications, and no legitimate household has been approved for directly collecting wild Hainan Huanghuali seeds.

It's precisely because of this that the couple lost their lawsuit.

Trying to obtain large planks to make Huanghuali furniture is absolutely a daunting task, nearly impossible to buy even with money.

The small amount of Huanghuali wood furniture produced by Yi Anguo's factory is basically placed in specialty stores as a treasure to attract people.

Initially, Yi Xiaoman and Yi Xiaolin ventured into Li Ethnic Group villages in Hainan, purchasing a large quantity of Huanghuali wood, as well as local old furniture made of Huanghuali wood, even some farming tools, which they bought over.

What is mostly used now are materials dismantled from these old pieces, remade into Huanghuali furniture.

Although current Huanghuali wood prices haven't reached a peak yet, furniture made from it remains exorbitantly expensive, unaffordable for ordinary people, and beyond reach for even most wealthy individuals.

Beyond serving as a store treasure and being displayed to the public, not many are willing to spend that much money due to the high price tags.

However, Yi Anguo refuses to sell these Huanghuali wood pieces cheaply, because while the prices may seem high now, they won't seem so in a few more years.

Some of the acquired Huanghuali furniture already carries historical significance. Still, being rural antiques, they can't compare with Qing dynasty relics from the court.

Yet, some rural Hainan Huanghuali furniture still holds considerable collectible value.

Huanghuali, scientifically known as "Dalbergia Odorifera," stands out for its hard wood, unique clear texture, and subtle refreshing fragrance on overcast days, making it universally acknowledged as top raw furniture material.

Also, Dalbergia Odorifera is an esteemed traditional Chinese medicine known as Xuexiang or Xueya wood, with blood-activating and stimulant medicinal value, with Safflower Oil being its primary component.

Furniture crafted from Huanghuali mingles naturally, requires no paint, and can withstand centuries of climatic changes without warping, cracking, curving, or rotting.

Remarkably, over time it forms a natural patina, with the color only improving with age. Hence, Huanghuali furniture has been crowned the "King of Chinese Traditional Furniture."

Currently, the connotations of the term Huanghuali have evolved beyond these attributes...

Before his rebirth, Yi Anguo had read an article detailing two international autumn auctions held by renowned auction houses in November and December of 2010.

These two autumn auctions decisively ignited the domestic passion for collecting Huanghuali wood furniture.