WS is a 100% owned subsidiary of Wescorp Holdings Pty Ltd. It was established in 1994 to process and market sandalwood for the Western Australian government agency Conservation and Land Management (CALM and then Department of Environment and Conservation; DEC) after being the successful applicant in the tender process in 2004, WS continued to act as the agent for Forest Product Commission (FPC) until December 2016. Since this time it is the independent sandalwood delivery point and processor for the FPC and other stakeholders within the Sandalwood industry.
FPC manages the sustainable harvesting of the spicatum with licensed harvesting contractors that are allocated regions and quotas per annum. For each green sandalwood tree harvested the contractor must plant at least 12 seeds near suitable hosts. There is approximately 2,000 tonne of sandalwood harvested per annum. In addition to the FPC harvest a further approximately 150 tonnes of “Private Property Sandalwood” is harvested per annum under the same sustainable regime.
Since December 2016, WS promotes itself as an independent processing factory for all sandalwood products. Products from maturing sandalwood plantations within the Western Australian wheat belt and far north album plantations are contract processed to the owner’s specifications, loaded in containers for export; shipping arranged and coordinated with various Government bodies to assist the owners sales. Sales can also be arranged for the owners, with the Wescorp network of long standing customers throughout the world.
From 2017, WS has taken on the management of sandalwood plantations in particular for the harvesting of the sandalwood seed. They are promoting future sandalwood plantations to follow an “orchard” design so the growers can earn revenue from the seed harvesting while they wait for the sandalwood trees to mature.
In 2007, WS established a laboratory in-house for the analysis of sandalwood, oil and seeds. We have facilities for GC analysis of sandalwood and agarwood products with possibly one of the largest databases of sandalwood from all over the world. Our facility is available to all interested industry participants, particularly the sandalwood plantations being established.
