How agarwood price per gram is calculated: oil content, producing regions, and pricing rules

Key points

• The raw material market prices by the gram, but the price per gram consists of "density grade × producing-region coefficient ± appearance adjustments." Discussing a unit price apart from the actual object is meaningless.
• Density grading is the base price: Sin Chew floating material 50–300 yuan/gram, semi-sinking 300–1500 yuan/gram, sinking 1500–5000 yuan/gram; Hui An sinking old material 3000–10000 yuan/gram, Hainan wild sinking starting at 6000 yuan/gram.
• Finished products such as bracelets are priced by the "piece"; the raw material price per gram must be divided by the finished-product yield (usually 20%–40%) to arrive at the true cost.
• Producing region, aging years, resin-formation form (plank/insect-bored/shell), and the completeness of the material block are the plus-or-minus factors for the price per gram.
• The price difference between old and new material, and between wild and planted, can reach several times to ten times; knowing how to judge goods is more important than knowing how to bargain.

1. First understand the rules: raw material by the gram, finished products by the piece

The agarwood industry has two price languages.The raw material market says "gram," the finished product market says "piece."

Raw material transactions —碎片, block material, raw material buying and selling — are priced by the gram, proven on the electronic scale. For finished products such as agarwood bracelets, carvings, and pendants, merchants usually quote by "string" or "piece," because there is an account that beginners most easily overlook:finished-product yield。

From raw material to finished product, a piece of material goes through the entire process of selection, cutting, bead-turning, drilling, polishing, and stringing. Wild material often has internal voids, cracks, and interlayers, and only two or three tenths are often usable. For a 20-gram sinking bracelet, if the raw material is 10,000 yuan/gram, the raw material cost is 200,000; if the finished-product yield of this batch is only three tenths, the true cost must be multiplied further. So shopkeepers often tell agarwood friends:When looking at bracelets, don't work backward from the string price to the price per gram — those are two separate accounts.Once you understand this rule, the logic of price per gram below is easier to unfold.

2. Oil content and price: density is the base price, sinking is the watershed

How is agarwood priced? The most common practice in the industry is to first grade the material by density.

The essence of agarwood is a composite of resin, wood, and fungal metabolites formed after the agarwood tree is injured. The higher the oil content, the greater the density, and the more it sinks in water. The first step for experienced buyers receiving goods is to fill a bowl with water:

• floating material: floats immediately upon entering water, oil content roughly below 15%, fragrance relatively light, the mainstay for entry-level and daily burning, with the most affordable price per gram;
• semi-sinking material: half floats and half sinks in water, oil content about 15%–30%, fragrance profile noticeably a step up, the mainstream grade for mid-range wearing;
• Sinking-grade material: Sinks immediately upon entering water, oil content generally above 30%, density greater than water, with resin enrichment reaching a critical point of qualitative change; belongs to the high-end tier;
• Sinking-float: Within sinking-grade material, further ranked by resin deposition thickness, determining high versus low within the same sinking grade.

It should be noted that oil content and sinking behavior are not strictly linear—some material has resin density close to that of water, producing a "critical sinking-floating" state, called "sinking-float" in the trade; whether it counts as floating or sinking depends on the judgment of buyer and seller. For a more detailed grading method, the shopkeeper has written specifically in"How to Choose Between Sinking Grade and Floating Grade", and will not repeat it here.

Why can oil content determine pricing? Because it directly corresponds to the concentration and lasting power of the fragrance. The longer the resin formation and the thicker the resin deposition, the stronger the fragrance's penetration, layering, and persistence when burned—this is the core metric by which agarwood transforms from "a piece of wood" into "incense material." For the resin formation process, see"The Principles of Agarwood Resin Formation"。

III. Regional Premium: Same Sinking Grade, Price Difference Starts at Threefold

Density grade only determines the "starting line,"while the regional coefficient determines the "acceleration ratio."。

The generally recognized value hierarchy in the market is roughly:Hainan material ≥ Vietnam Nha Trang, Phu Quoc and other core Hui'an-system production areas > Cambodia, Laos and other secondary Hui'an-system material > Indonesia, Malaysia and other Sin Chew-system material.For the same sinking grade, wild Hui'an-system material is typically more than twice as expensive as Sin Chew-system material, and wild Hainan material is typically another 30% to 50% higher. Why?

• Fragrance Style: The Hui'an system is known for cool, sweet, translucent fruity-honey aromas, better suited to traditional incense appreciation aesthetics; the Sin Chew system is mellow and steady, with strong presence when burned but fewer layers of variation. Rarity commands value, and so does "taste."
• Resource Reserves: Traditional wild production areas in Vietnam and Hainan have become increasingly depleted after years of harvesting, with much of what circulates on the market being heirloom old material passed down by collectors; the Sin Chew production areas are large and new material continues to ship—the supply side is on an entirely different scale.
• Historical Endorsement: Hainan agarwood has enjoyed the reputation of "Qiong resin as the finest" since Ding Wei's "Tianxiang Zhuan" in the Song Dynasty, and its status in ancient texts translates directly into market status.

A complete overview of each production area's characteristics has been placed by the shopkeeper in"Characteristics of Agarwood from Each Production Area"; viewing it together with this article's pricing perspective makes it easier to build a coordinate system.

IV. Per-Gram Price Adjustments: Age, Fragrance Type, and Integrity

Once the density grade and production region are set, there are a few final adjustments:

1. Aging years. For the same region and density, naturally aged old material over ten years is 30%–100% more expensive than new material, because the oils are further aged, the wood's character is fully mellowed, and the fragrance is purer. For detailed price differences between old and new material, read"The Price Gap Between Old Agarwood and New Material Revealed"。
2. Resination form. The industry classifies by form into board pieces, insect-bored pieces, shell pieces, saw-cut pieces, and scraps. Insect-bored and board pieces, due to concentrated resination and powerful fragrance, have a higher price per gram than ordinary chunks at the same weight; scraps can only be ground into powder for burning, so the price per gram is lower.
3. Integrity of the piece. Large, intact raw material can be carved and turned, commanding a clear premium; offcuts have limited uses and are discounted based on "how much incense they can yield."
4. Source and compliance. Wild material with a clear source and complete documentation is more expensive than loose goods of unknown origin, but resale is guaranteed.

V. Three-step estimate of a range: practical method for agarwood price per gram

When inspecting goods on site, the shopkeeper generally estimates a range in three steps:

1. Look: Whether the oil lines are naturally distributed, the color is restrained, and the transition between oil and wood at the cross-section is even. For material treated with oil and color, the oil lines float on the surface, and the color is as rigid as if painted with a layer of lacquer.
2. Weigh: For the same volume, feel the weight and test sinking in water to first determine the density grade and get a "starting price."
3. Smell: Smell raw to distinguish woodiness, burn to distinguish layers. New material often has a sour, fishy, green note; old material is mellow, sweet, and cool. Oil-soaked material smells pungent at first, and after half an hour the fragrance collapses.

After these three steps, you'll have a general range in mind for a piece. If you're unsure, the simplest way: take clear photos of the cross-section, weight, and fragrance description, call 400-809-1913 to check with the shopkeeper, or come to the store for free appraisal—no charge. As for market prices, with enough comparisons you'll naturally learn to estimate.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much is agarwood per gram? Why do some quotes say tens and others tens of thousands?

"How much is agarwood per gram" has no standard answer because the grades vary enormously: Singapore floating material 50–300 yuan/gram, Singapore sinking grade 1500–5000 yuan/gram, Hui'an sinking old material 3000–10000 yuan/gram, Hainan wild sinking grade from 6000 yuan/gram, top qinan(kyara) by tens of thousands per gram. Before quoting, clarify density, region, and age; if any one is missing, the quote is meaningless.

Are agarwood bracelets priced by gram or by bracelet?

By bracelet (piece). The raw material price per gram must be divided by the yield rate to get the true cost of a bracelet; the yield rate is usually only 20%–40%. When looking at a bracelet, focus on bead diameter, weight, fragrance, and workmanship; don't divide the bracelet price by bead weight to infer the raw material price per gram.

Is sinking grade always more expensive than semi-sinking?

In the vast majority of cases, yes. For the same产区 and same year and same form, sinking-grade material has a significantly higher price per gram than semi-sinking grade. But cross-产区 comparisons do not hold—Star洲 sinking-grade material may not be more expensive than Hui'an-system semi-sinking wild old material, because the 产区 coefficient is multiplied on top of the density tier.

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