There are different types of charcoal in Nigeria just as there are different or all kinds of trees in Nigeria. But not all of them is used or is useful for making of charcoal.
Some are mainly perfect for sawmills and wood works while others are for firewood and other purposes.
But in this context of making charcoal in Nigeria, we will talk about the best and most preferred trees that are used for making charcoal in Nigeria.
Here we will rate them based on their international request and ratings from buyers worldwide.
We will start from the charcoal that has the best ratings and demand internationally down to the other types of charcoal made from other trees.
Birch Tree (Ayin)
This is by far the most highly preferred type of charcoal that is wanted by foreign buyers the world over Just because it is very good for charcoal.
This type of tree is very common or popular in the south western region of Nigeria even up to some northern states in Nigeria. It is classified as a hardwood and is also very good for firewood used by local people.
The best part of this tree is that when used to make charcoal by a professional or experienced charcoal producer the charcoal always come out heavy and with big pieces. It does not spark and will normally last long when being used for cooking.
So you can be confident to stay close to the fire when using this type of charcoal and it will not spark and burn your cloth.
In the Middle East countries this type of charcoal is the preferred choice to go for, as they are using it for shisha and barbecuing in hotels and restaurant.
Acacia Tree:
This is another good tree that can be used in the production of charcoal. This tree is more common in the northern part of Nigeria and also can be found in some south western states. using this tree also in the production of charcoal is equally very good.
The charcoal will come out heavy and in big sizes, and it will also not spark during the burning of the charcoal when cooking with it.
It is also wanted by foreign buyers but this tree is not viable for making charcoal in large volumes just because the tree produces another more valuable product that is of higher demand internationally than charcoal. And that product is gum Arabic.
Because of this gum that is produced by this tree it is not wise to cut it down to make charcoal which is much cheaper compared to the value and usefulness of this gum Arabic from the tree. If not for this reason it is also a good tree that is very good in the production of charcoal.
Shea butter tree:
This is the tree that produces shea butter and it is a very hard wood. Though normally this tree is only used for charcoal when it is dead or no longer producing fruit.
It is one of the heaviest type of charcoal that also burns very hot and can last even longer in the fire because it is a very hard wood.
This type of charcoal made from this tree has a high spark rate and is not too suitable for people that are buying or using for restaurants and hotels.
But it is mostly sought after by people in the blacksmith industries or other industries that uses charcoal. This is mainly because of the high burning temperature.
Summary:
In Nigeria there are other known trees that are also equally very good for making charcoal but they may not be as common in our forest as the ones that we mentioned here.
Mainly most of these trees used for the production of charcoal are hard wood.
This is the best type of tree to use for charcoal to get a bigger and heavier charcoal that will burn for a longer time unlike when you use soft wood like mango tree or other citrus fruit trees to make the charcoal.
These type of tree will normally produce light charcoal that will burn very fast which is not what people in the market will want or want to go for.