The Origin of Rattan Kubu: What It Is and Where It Comes From

Rattan Kubu is one of Indonesia's small-diameter rattan species, thin-stemmed, flexible, and grown mainly for processing into finer material cuts rather than sold as a whole pole. It's almost never marketed alone; suppliers most often list it as "kubu jawit," pairing it with the jawit species because the two share a similar stem profile and end use.

Rattan Kubu's stem gets split into a few distinct products depending on which part of it is used:

• Pitrit Kubu: The inner core, stripped of bark. Described as less smooth-textured than sega pitrit, brittle when dry, and shifting color when soaked in water.

• Skin / lasio: The thin outer peel, cut into wide, flat strips, the same category of cut taken from sega, jawit, and sukamara.

• Woven surface material: Because the stem is thin and pliable, kubu (paired with jawit) is prized for tight, detailed weaving for baskets, bags, mats, and decorative pieces where the weave itself is the product.

The same kubu stem can end up as core, skin, or pitrit depending on which layer gets processed. Kubu rattan is also noted for taking dye well, which is part of why it shows up so often in colored or patterned weave rather than natural-finish rattan pieces.

Rattan Kubu is distributed across Indonesia's core rattan-producing regions such as Kalimantan, Sumatra, and Sulawesi are the areas most consistently cited as sources. Indonesia overall is home to well over 300 documented rattan species and is the world's largest raw rattan producer, so kubu is one entry in a much larger species catalog rather than a rare or regional outlier.

Domestic processing of species like rattan kubu picked up after Indonesia restricted the export of raw and semi-finished rattan, pushing the splitting, weaving, and finishing work into the country rather than sending unprocessed stems abroad.

Rattan Kubu is a versatile Indonesian rattan species valued for its thin, flexible stems and suitability for processing into pitrit, skin strips, and fine weaving materials. Commonly paired with jawit, it is used in baskets, bags, mats, and other handcrafted products where flexibility, lightweight construction, and good dye absorption are important. Its presence across major rattan-producing regions such as Kalimantan, Sumatra, and Sulawesi also reflects the diversity of Indonesia’s rattan resources and their role in supporting both traditional craftsmanship and modern product applications.

Beyond Kubu, different rattan species offer distinct characteristics that influence how they are processed and used. Rattan Tradeasia’s collections and articles provide further references on rattan materials, craftsmanship, and finished product applications for readers looking to better understand the wider rattan industry.