**Reclaimed teak and new teak are the same species, _Tectona grandis_ (jati), sold as two different products. Reclaimed teak is salvaged from old houses, boats, bridges and railway sleepers, carrying a weathered patina and tight old-growth grain. New teak is fresh plantation stock, kiln-dried and uniform. Both export from Jepara, both need SVLK, and both are quoted per-spec.**
For importers and hospitality buyers, the choice is rarely about which wood is “better.” It is about the look you are specifying, the volume you can fill, the lead time you can wait, and the paperwork your destination market demands. Here is how the two compare across the things that actually change a purchase order.
What is the visible difference between reclaimed and new teak?
Reclaimed teak reads as character. Decades of use leave nail holes, bolt scars, silvery-grey surface oxidation and denser growth rings from slow-grown old timber. After sanding and oiling, that history stays visible, and no two pieces match exactly. New teak reads as clean. Freshly milled Grade A heartwood shows the warm golden-brown tone buyers expect, with straighter, more predictable grain and colour that you can repeat across a 200-piece hospitality order.
If your project is a restaurant fit-out chasing a rustic, one-of-a-kind story, salvaged stock delivers it. If you are furnishing identical guest rooms and need every headboard to look like the sample, new teak is the safer specification. Many buyers who want the aged look on new budgets order salvaged stock for feature pieces and pair it with new teak for the repeatable items — our reclaimed teak furniture page walks through how those mixed orders are graded and cubed into one container.
| Attribute | Reclaimed teak | New teak (plantation) |
|---|---|---|
| Surface look | Weathered patina, silvery-grey until refinished | Warm golden-brown, uniform |
| Grain | Tight, old-growth, slow-grown rings | Straighter, more even |
| Consistency | Every piece unique — expect variation | Repeatable across large runs |
| Marks | Nail holes, bolt scars, checks (part of the character) | Minimal; clean faces |
| Moisture content | Kiln-dried to ~8–12% MC after reprocessing | Kiln-dried to ~8–12% MC |
| Best for | Feature pieces, rustic and heritage projects | Volume, matched sets, hospitality rollouts |
Which costs more to buy and ship?
There is no single “reclaimed price” or “new price.” Both are quote-based per-piece and per-spec. Any USD figure a workshop shows you is an indicative example only, and — as of 2026, subject to change — it moves with grade (A heartwood versus B), construction, joinery, finish and how efficiently pieces cube out inside a container.
That said, the cost drivers differ. Reclaimed teak carries labour few buyers see: sourcing and dismantling old structures, removing metal, screening for rot, re-milling and re-drying salvaged boards, and accepting high wastage because much of what comes in cannot be used. That handwork can push reclaimed pieces above comparable new ones, especially for large table tops that need wide, clean recovered boards. New teak has a more predictable cost curve tied to log grade and volume, which is why matched sets at scale often price more competitively.
Two commercial realities to plan for:
- Yield. Reclaimed material has lower usable yield, so minimum quantities per design can be harder to hit. New teak scales cleanly.
- Cubing. Freight is priced on container space, not sentiment. Bulky reclaimed benches and slab tables that cube out fast can raise your effective per-piece landed cost regardless of the wood.
MOQ for both is a mixed container that cubes out, typically loading FOB from Semarang / Tanjung Emas, with Surabaya and Jakarta also used. Ask for the quotation to be built from your own item list, not from a headline price.
Are the legality and traceability rules the same?
The baseline is identical. Since January 2013, SVLK (Sistem Verifikasi Legalitas Kayu) has been Indonesia’s mandatory national timber legality system, tracing origin through the whole supply chain to export. Since 1 January 2015, all wooden furniture except bamboo requires a V-Legal Document to export. Teak is explicitly within SVLK scope. Indonesia was also the first country to issue FLEGT licences, from November 2016, and FLEGT-licensed goods automatically satisfy the EU Timber Regulation. Reclaimed and new teak furniture both fall under this framework.
Where the two diverge is traceability depth, and this matters most for Europe. The EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR, Regulation (EU) 2023/1115, adopted 2023) goes beyond legality: covered wood products must be deforestation-free — produced on land not deforested after the cut-off date of 31 December 2020 — with due-diligence statements and geolocation of the origin plot. With full application phasing in around end-2026, this becomes a live 2027 concern for EU and UK buyers.
New plantation teak generally has a documentable, geolocatable origin plot. Reclaimed teak is trickier: timber pulled from a 60-year-old house often has no recoverable coordinates for where the tree originally grew. That is a real, honest nuance to raise early with your compliance team. We prepare the SVLK chain-of-custody and available documentation for both product types, but acceptance under EUDR and at the border always rests with the competent authorities — no exporter can sell you EUDR or customs certainty.
| Requirement | Reclaimed teak | New teak |
|---|---|---|
| SVLK / V-Legal for export | Yes (since 2013/2015) | Yes (since 2013/2015) |
| FLEGT route to EU | Available | Available |
| EUDR geolocation of origin plot | Often unrecoverable — discuss early | Usually documentable |
| Who accepts the documents | Border / EU competent authorities | Border / EU competent authorities |
Note that Indonesia’s V-Legal policy has shifted over the years — a 2020 Trade Ministry rule scrapped the licence requirement, and as of 2 May 2025 the ministry announced relaxing V-Legal document requirements for furniture exports except to the EU and UK. For those two markets, the documentation still matters, which is why it stays central to any teak order bound for Europe.
Can I order both from one exporter?
Yes, and it is often the smartest way to buy. Consolidating reclaimed and new teak with a single Jepara-based exporter means one quotation, one SVLK documentation package, one loading point and one container plan — instead of splitting a shipment across suppliers and doubling your paperwork. You can put statement reclaimed pieces alongside matched new-teak sets, balance the cubing so the container fills efficiently, and keep a single point of contact for finish standards, custom or OEM specs, and private-label requirements.
The practical starting point is a buyer item list — designs, quantities, target finish, destination market — so the quote reflects your real mix rather than a single commodity band. From there, grade, construction and container cubing settle the numbers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is reclaimed teak stronger than new teak furniture?
Not automatically. Reclaimed teak often comes from slow-grown old-growth trees with tight, dense grain, which can make it very stable once re-dried to roughly 8–12% moisture content. But salvaged boards can also carry hidden checks, old bolt holes or rot that must be screened out. Properly reprocessed reclaimed and quality kiln-dried new teak both perform well; condition and construction matter more than age.
Does reclaimed teak furniture need SVLK to export like new teak?
Yes. SVLK has been mandatory for timber-industry operators since January 2013, and wooden furniture has required a V-Legal Document to export since 1 January 2015, with no carve-out for reclaimed material. Reclaimed teak still moves through SVLK chain-of-custody documentation. The added challenge is EUDR geolocation for EU or UK shipments, since a salvaged piece’s original growing plot is often unrecoverable — raise this with your compliance team early.
Can I mix reclaimed and new teak in one export container?
Yes, mixing is common and efficient. A single Jepara exporter can consolidate salvaged feature pieces with matched new-teak sets into one FOB container loading from Semarang or Surabaya, under one quotation and one documentation package. Balancing bulky reclaimed slabs against denser-packing new items helps the container cube out, which keeps your effective landed cost down. Send a full item list so the quote reflects your actual mix.