Woods used for Chess Pieces

In Chinese made chess pieces the wood is generally reconstituted wood - essentially mdf - or the Chinese equivilent. Retailers vary - and ChessBaron - for example has chess pieces that are not made in China - their factory is located in India and the woods used are sheesham, rosewood, bud rosewood and ebony. These are generally considered the more exotic wood and are controlled in their environments so that they don't disappear altogether - and hence are much more expensive than cheaper wood such as we use for furniture and flooring.

Interestingly, sheesham has a foot in both camps - it's used for good quality furniture and also for chess piece manufacture at the lower level of the quality spectrum.