Deon Schlechter
Windhoek
The Swakara industry once again experienced a glamorous and hugely successful international pelt auction, amid a fur market that is still experiencing an overproduction of mink skins and has not fully recovered from the recent global economic crisis.
The auction was held in Copenhagen, Denmark, last Sunday evening and 100 percent of the offering was sold. Jaco van Zyl, manager: Agra Pelt Centre says an average price of N$476.38 was achieved for the 41,809 pelts that were sent to the auction by the Agra Pelt Centre. This is a decrease of 4.1 percent compared to the auction results last September, where 39,007 pelts achieved an average price of N$496.98.
However, in Danish Krone the average price was DKK240.57, an increase of 0.11 percent compared to last September’s auction.
The March consignment consisted of 26,601 black (63.6 percent), 10,920 white (26.12 percent), 3,513 spotted (8.4 percent) and 775 diverse pelts (1.8 percent). The black top lot, 70 O Light Selected Extra pelts, was sold for N$1,980.20 to Konstantinou Furs, a fur retailer from Kastoria, Greece. The white top lot, 50 White KF Selected pelts, was sold to Yury Polyakov, a Russian retailer, for N$2 178.22 per pelt. English buyers bought the most pelts, with buyers from Greece second in line and Hong Kong third. More Chinese buyers also attended the auction. The average price achieved for black Swakara pelts was N$408.48, a decrease of 11.01 percent compared to September 2017’s international auction. White pelts achieved an average price of N$735.95, a decrease of 4.13 percent compared to September 2017’s auction. Spotted pelts sold at an average price of N$267.81 – an increase of 4.05 percent compared to September 2017’s auction.
Twenty-five successful bidders attended the auction. The buyer who bought most Swakara pelts was Hurwitz Exports Limited, based in England. Hurwitz bought 36 lots with 9,647 pelts, followed by Bourtsos from Greece, who bought 5,841 Swakara pelts. Although there were more active buyers at the auction compared to last September, they were more selective in their buying. High quality pelts received good prices, compared to the lower quality pelts that received prices that were below expectation.
Namibian producer, Karasberge Karakoel Stoet – who had more than 250 pelts at this auction –achieved an average price of N$879.78. The top South African producer was L J Kotze, who sold 663 pelts at an average price of R588.48.