Kadam Wood (Neolamarckia cadamba): Properties, Density & Uses

What kadam is, and where it grows

Kadam is a large, fast-growing tropical hardwood in the coffee family (Rubiaceae). Its accepted botanical name is Neolamarckia cadamba, but in the timber trade you will meet it far more often under older synonyms — Anthocephalus cadamba, Anthocephalus chinensis, Nauclea cadamba (the earliest name, from 1824) and Sarcocephalus cadamba all describe the same tree.12 Across India it is simply kadam or kadamb in Hindi, kadamba in Sanskrit, kadam in Bengali, kadambu or vellai kadambu — "white kadam" — in Tamil, and kadambu in Malayalam.1 In Southeast Asia the same wood trades as jabon in Indonesia, kelempayan in Malaysia, and laran.3

The tree is native across South and Southeast Asia — the Indian subcontinent, southern China, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia, reaching as far as northern Australia.12 It grows fast and large, to about 45 metres tall on a trunk 100–160 cm across.1 What matters commercially is that in India kadam is essentially a farm crop: it is raised on short-rotation plantations and agroforestry plots rather than cut from natural forest.56 Rotations are pegged to the end use — roughly 3–5 years (sometimes 7–8) for pulp and paper, about 4 years for matchwood, 8–10 years for plywood and veneer, and 10–15 years where larger sawn timber is wanted.26 Seed-raised plantations in Tamil Nadu have returned about 70–100 tonnes per hectare on a 6–7-year rotation, planted near 3–4 m in the row and 4–5 m between rows.6 Kadam is a recognised fast-growing plantation species in Kerala's humid Western Ghats belt too, though we have not seen a Kerala-specific yield figure and treat these as general Indian plantation data.

Density and hardness

Kadam is a genuinely light hardwood. The reference range quoted consistently by Wikipedia, the ITTO timber database and Useful Tropical Plants is 290–560 kg/m³ at 15% moisture content.123 That is a wide spread because it runs from very juvenile wood to older, denser stock; plantation-age timber tends to sit in the middle. Measured studies bear this out — a 13-year-old jabon returned a specific gravity around 0.48 (about 480 kg/m³), while a 54-month progeny trial spanned 0.33–0.50 (roughly 330–500 kg/m³).4 In practice, expect plantation kadam around 350–500 kg/m³ air-dry, with the full published envelope 290–560.

Bending strength follows from that low density. Air-dry Malaysian juvenile wood tested at a modulus of rupture near 44.6 N/mm² and a stiffness (modulus of elasticity) of about 5,291 N/mm² — around 5.3 GPa — rising to roughly 50.9 N/mm² oven-dry.4 The wood is rated strength class III in the Malaysian light-hardwood system, and several provenance studies conclude plainly that kadam is best used as a non-structural raw material — veneer, composites and packaging — rather than as a load-bearing member.4 For a plywood panel that is not really a limitation: stiffness comes from the cross-bonded construction, not from any single core veneer.

Hardness is where the honest answer is "not well documented." Forestry references describe kadam only qualitatively — soft to moderate, with hardness increasing from the pith outward to the bark.34 A single hobbyist hardness chart lists a Janka side hardness around 600 lbf (about 2,670 N), which is plausible for a light hardwood — roughly poplar territory — but it is not from a forestry or standards source, so we flag it as indicative only, not a figure to design to.

Working and seasoning

Kadam works easily with both hand and machine tools. It cuts cleanly, gives a very good, smooth surface, planes good-to-fair and moulds easily.25 For packing work the two properties that count most are that it is easy to nail and that its straight grain and fine-to-medium texture keep it from splitting at nail and staple lines.23 It also peels well: kadam rotary-peels readily at a knife angle near 92°, giving sound veneer about 1.5 mm thick that is suited to grade-IV commercial plywood and tea-chest plywood, as well as to match boxes and splints.3

It seasons kindly. Kadam air-dries rapidly with little or no degrade — an advantage where you want quick turnaround from plantation to mill.23 Movement is low; one study reports radial shrinkage around 3.05%.4 Fast, clean drying and low shrinkage are exactly what a veneer or packaging timber needs, because they keep panels and cases flat and dimensionally settled.

Durability and treatment

The one property to be candid about is durability. Kadam is non-durable, effectively perishable in exposed use: its heartwood is not differentiated from the sapwood, and Indonesian graveyard tests give an average service life under 1.5 years in ground contact.23 Untreated, it is also open to insect and fungal attack. This is a timber for single-trip or short-life packaging, or for interior and treated applications — not for exposed, wet or long-service outdoor use.

The flip side is that kadam takes treatment as well as almost any timber. It is highly permeable and very easy to preserve, whether by simple open-tank soaking or by pressure-vacuum plants, and it can even be impregnated with synthetic resins to lift its density and compressive strength.23 That permeability is a real advantage where treated packaging is specified or where ISPM-15 heat treatment is required for export crating — the wood accepts both readily.

Sustainability and sourcing

Kadam is not a threatened species. It is not flagged on the major global at-risk lists, and the regional Plants Red List of Bangladesh assesses it Least Concern.7 We have not found a separate global IUCN assessment, so we treat "Least Concern" as a regional rating and describe the species, accurately, as common and very widely planted rather than formally globally assessed. What can be said with confidence is that the kadam entering the Indian trade is overwhelmingly plantation- and farm-grown on short rotations, not cut from natural forest.56 For a buyer weighing the environmental footprint of packaging timber, that is a genuine point in its favour: choosing kadam supports plantation forestry rather than natural-forest extraction.

What kadam is used for

In the Indian trade kadam is a staple, low-cost plantation hardwood, and its uses line up closely with what a packing and plywood manufacturer needs. It goes into plywood core and face veneer, light construction, pulp and paper, packing cases, boxes and crates, match splints and match boxes, pencil slats, toys, flooring, carving and furniture components.235 Its combination of light weight, easy nailing, clean peeling and quick drying is why it earns its place specifically in plywood core veneer, the match industry and light packaging.35

How Cochin Wood uses kadam

We are a Kerala-based plywood and timber manufacturer, and kadam reaches us the way most Indian mills meet it — as a plantation hardwood that turns up in packing timber and as core veneer, not as a premium show-face. Where it fits, it does two jobs well. As core veneer it peels cleanly, dries fast and stays flat, which is exactly what a commercial-plywood or blockboard core wants — see our commercial plywood and blockboard and flush doors. As light, easy-to-nail packing timber it suits single-trip plywood boxes and crates and plywood pallets, and it appears in our sawn timber supply where a light, workable, treatable species is called for. Because kadam is non-durable untreated, we specify preservative or heat treatment wherever the packaging has to last or travel wet — the wood takes it readily. Tell us the grade, thickness and destination and we will match the right species to the job; browse the full product range or ask us directly.