Koa/Tasmanian Blackwood price skyrocket lately?

Joined
Mar 26, 2012
Messages
2,284
If I remembered correctly, 3-4 years ago premium grade of these wood are usually sold for like $60-100 a block but now I have seen as much as $200-250 for a single block sold in Instagram. What is the reason behind this?
 
The supplies are dwindling, and there is a growing demand for this sort of Tasmanian wood, particularly from artisan/bespoke craftsman. The Blackwood tree takes years to grow also, which means it takes a long time to replenish stock, hope this helps.
 
Long maturity times for these trees and the limited amount of acreage available on islands makes these woods harder to keep in supply. At some point it might be cheaper to buy old tourist souvenir tikis and "aboriginal" carvings to salvage the wood.
 
instagram is the problem - it's like the modern version of ebay - sellers only go there in hopes to score 3x the normal price
 
Back
Top