LONDON , England ( CNN ) -- The sleek , dark wood has all the characteristics of endangered mahogany from Peru 's Amazon rainforest . Kebony is targeting decking manufacturers and boat builders as potential clients of its modified sustainable wood . In reality , it was manufactured in Norway , in a five-day process that instills all the qualities of rare , tropical hardwood into sustainable softwood . The company that makes it , Kebony , says it comes with none of the environmental cost . `` This is a mega turn , people have to act , '' Kebony CEO Christian Jebsen told CNN . `` We have a green solution for the tropical wood market and we are there to take that market or at least be part of it . '' Christian Jebsen talks to CNN » . The global market for wood products from tropical forests is estimated to be worth some $ 20 billion each year , according to the International Tropical Timber Organization . Most of the wood on the world market now comes from Southeast Asia and Africa , according to the Rainforest Foundation Norway . Tighter controls on logging in Brazil have reduced the amount of hardwood being shipped out of the Amazon , once a popular source for the finest quality mahogany , teak and cedar . `` Each tree is worth maybe $ 25,000- $ 40,000 on the international market . And there are lots of trees being taken out [ worldwide ] -- so this is a large business , a huge business , '' said Lars Løvold , director of the Rainforest Foundation Norway . The United Nations estimates some 13 million hectares of forest are lost worldwide each year , equivalent to an area the size of Greece or Nicaragua . Their absence is said to contribute more carbon emissions each year than the global transport sector . Demand for luxury hardwood is by no means the main cause of deforestation . Clearing land for agriculture and the collection of wood for fuel are the main drivers , but Løvold said the lucrative market for hardwood provides a compelling incentive for loggers to move into previously untouched areas . `` Almost all deforestation starts with the logging , '' Løvold told CNN . `` The logging does n't necessarily end up in the total clearance of an area , it just opens up the area , it takes out all the valuable trees and makes it much easier . '' Kebony 's move into the global wood market follows more than a decade of research started in the late 1990s by Canadian scientist Marc Schneider of the University of New Brunswick . Rigorous testing took place before the first trial production in 2004 . Strong demand for the product convinced the company to build a new plant with ten times the production capacity , which opened in January . `` What we are doing with our technology is to permanently transform the wood so it does n't change . Our process is 100 percent environmentally friendly , '' Jebsen told CNN . The process involves injecting softwood with a patented formula which includes Furfuryl alcohol , a waste by-product of sugar cane production . The wood is then subjected to pressure , heated and dried before being cured at high temperatures to create a product that the company says is stronger , more stable than untreated softwood and weather-proof . Kebony 's environmental credentials have been endorsed with the receipt of the Nordic region 's eco-label , the Swan . It 's also received Norway 's national environmental prize , the `` Glass Bear . '' On a cost basis , the company says it can compete with the price of authentic teak on the European market . `` You can buy a cubic meter of teak in Europe for anything between 3,000 euros ( $ 4,000 ) up to 10,000 euros ( $ 14,000 ) , depending on the quality . I would say we are competitive with that , '' Jebsen said . Kebony is `` slightly more expensive '' when compared to pressure-treated wood , but it does n't contain any of the potentially harmful metals or pesticides that are commonly used to improve the wood 's durability . Jebsen sees some of the company 's best opportunities in the boat-building industry , where rare teak from Myanmar is being used at the luxury end of the market . `` We believe multiple boat manufacturers will start to use Kebony very soon -- some have already started , '' he said . The company is also planning a move into the U.S. decking market where it 's scouting for clients and recruiting distributors . `` The U.S. decking market , which is using toxic impregnated , metal-based wood modification methods , together with tropical wood , is [ worth ] about five billion dollars , so the market is obviously enormous , '' Jebsen said .
Norwegian company has developed eco-friendly way to simulate hardwood . Score: 7 Wood is treated to give it the same look , performance as tropical hardwood . Product widely used in Norway , now the company is expanding internationally .