Ann: Resignation of Managing Director, page-77

A failed buyer is the least of the problems with sandalwood. My step-father harvested Sandalwood for 30 years and I've done a stint doing it myself in WA. Even the inferior wood was snatched up and sold to Singapore as fast as it could be delivered. I made initial queries at one point to sell to Japan where I lived for many years and the interest was immediate and eager. Government bureaucracy prevented me proceeding but I learned enough to know that Glaucus' gaslighting about weak prices and unstable demand is 100% horse hay.

I was informed by a buyer that while quality is obviously key, the second most vital component to price is guaranteed delivery to schedule of exact tonnage and consistent grade. That is the key to QIN's success. People pulling the stuff out of the wild cannot meet that criteria. The quality is all over the shop and precise deliveries and quantities cannot always be met. Thus the spot price of sandalwood is significantly lower than a contracted price for future delivery. Whether Glaucus knew this or not (probably not) would be immaterial. They would never have pointed it out because their objective was to wreck QIN's price as much as possible.

QIN can deliver the best quality controlled product of the best species precisely to a pre-set schedule. This allows processors and the whole supply chain to gear up hiring and production without wasting capital and resources. It was the reason I bought TFC on and off over the last 2 years and got in as the price dipped. Hold.