Before wide-scale use of oil-based synthetics, manila copal was an important component of varnishes and, when mixed with linseed oil, was widely used in the manufacture of linoleum. There is still a steady demand for manila copal for specialized uses, for example, varnishes for labels on food tins, for colour prints, as an ingredient in the paint used to paint lines on roads and for fluxes. Besides production for export, there has been a local demand for Agathis resin nearly everywhere trees of this genus are found (Whitmore 1980).