why are coral so expensive now?
There's a few reasons for corals being expensive and hard to get.
Jan 1st 2018 Fiji banned the export of Corals... no CITES.
June 2018 Indonesia banned the export of Corals due to corruption in the trade... no CITES.
Sources of corals now are:
Vietnam, Softies only
Fiji, Softies only
Malaysia, cultured SPS and cultured softies. Expensive $60.00 to $900.00 for 3/4" sps frag
Tonga, expensive and cherry picked over, not reliable suppliers.
Australia, always has been expensive due to cost of coral collection license, they were over 80k AUD/year back 6 years ago.
Exporters are now aware of the retail pricing for corals due to internet and have increased their pricing as they want a piece of the pie.
Cheers,
Tim
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