We have been exporting African abalone shell aggregates by the container load from South Africa since 2002. Our materials have been used in swimming pool finishes, garden center bedding, terrazzo flooring, jewelry manufacturing, and aquarium and terrarium bedding.
We currently offer abalone shell in three selections for bulk shipments:
1) Bulk shell that is unprocessed;
2) Simply crushed shell in assorted mixed sizes ranging from 4mm to 55mm+ in bulk bags to save on shipping costs;
3) Sorted shell in the following approximate size ranges:
Small shell pieces, sand, and calcium grit
4mm to 5mm pieces
5mm to 12mm pieces
12mm to 20mm pieces
20mm to 35mm pieces
35mm to 55mm pieces
Over 55mm pieces
Everything we run through our sorters falls over magnets to remove any ferrous metals. The magnets are very strong, so nothing is going to get past them. Even some of the abalone shell with natural iron deposits in it gets caught and kicked out to avoid rusting in a pool finish.
The sorted shell is generally free of any sand and most calcium deposits on the shell as this gets knocked off in the sorting process, thereby saving shell customers money by not shipping unusable material.
We can do a simple high-pressure water wash if required at a nominal cost on the sorted sizes, but cannot disinfect the shell with various chemical solutions, such as bleach or a hydrogen peroxide bath, because we are located in an agricultural zone and cannot flush chemicals into the water system. Larger import customers in the pool industry should consider disinfecting their final processed shell to kill all live organisms so there is no problem with possible pool algae blooms being caused by organisms in the shell. The shell is generally free of odor as the crushing process knocks off any algae on the shell and exposure to sunlight and air helps disinfect the shell naturally.
All shell gets double fumigated prior to shipping: once in open bags inside a sealed container and a second time in the container just prior to shipping.
A typical 20-foot container shipment is restricted to 16.5 MT due to road weight restrictions in Los Angeles and 15.8 MT due to road weight restrictions in Houston and other locations.
We ship in industrial bulk bags.
We offer smaller retail pre-packs in 1-kg, 5-kg, and 10-kg bags for craft stores, garden centers, and other customers at a slightly higher price.
Prices are negotiated based on the quantity of shell as well as the degree of crushing, sorting, tumbling, washing, packaging, and labeling.
Our minimum order to ship internationally from Cape Town is US$10,000, ex-works. Smaller retail and wholesale order quantities are generally available from our U.S. warehouse in Niagara Falls, NY.
If you are looking for cleaned and edged abalone shells for smudge pots or finished tumbled shell for crafts, please see our other webpages for these products. This page is strictly for shell aggregates.
For further information, please call Paul Crosby at +1.716.550.2914.
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Description
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Price |
R-abalone-spec
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African Abalone Shell Aggregates |
Call for pricing |
Genus
and species: Haliotis midae. Ranch. South Africa.
This
particular species of abalone was placed under CITES III trade
controls by South Africa in May 2007. In June 2010, the South African government removed the CITES status on this shell. No CITES permits are required any longer.
The European Environment Agency requires a permit to import or transit Europe under Annex D.
A USFWS export permit is required for all shipments outside the USA. U.S. customers importing directly from South Africa on their own account will need to have a U.S. Fish & Wildlife import permit prior to importation.
Product of South Africa
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