African Mahogany vs. True Mahogany: What Buyers Should Know Before Ordering
"Mahogany" on an order form can mean Central American Swietenia (true mahogany, CITES-controlled, expensive) or African khaya — a different genus in the same mahogany family that does 90% of the same jobs at a fraction of the cost. Here is how professionals spec the difference.
Botany, briefly, because documents care
True mahogany is Swietenia — big-leaf and Honduran — governed under CITES, with paperwork to match. African mahogany is Khaya (also sold as ahajou or Senegalese mahogany depending on region), a separate African genus of the mahogany family. For import permits, khaya is a normal hardwood shipment with standard export documents; that alone is why most door and millwork shops switched decades ago.
We supply khaya as African mahogany sawn timber and as logs.
Wood properties: where it matches and where it differs
Khaya is lighter and a bit softer than Swietenia, moves slightly more in service, and is a touch more figuring-prone — none of which matters for doors, mouldings, cabinet parts and interior joinery that get coated. Workability is excellent: it planes, screws and finishes like the real thing. Colour runs reddish-brown, sometimes with a slight purple cast, and clear coats bring it out.
For outdoor furniture, specify a coated design or a more durable species — for that use we would point you to iroko instead.
Buying it right
Order khaya the same way as any sawn timber: sizes with tolerance, FAS or agreed commercial grade, AD or KD moisture target, quantity in containers. Khaya air-dries and kiln-dries readily on standard schedules.
Our export team arranges documentation per species, origin and destination-country requirements, FOB or CFR, from 1 container for sawn timber — with cargo photos before shipment. Send your specification.