WINDHOEK – Namibia is to auction 61 110 Swakara pelts with an estimated value of N$34 million at Kopenhagen Fur auction in Copenhagen, Denmark, on April 18. A delegation of representatives from Agra and the Karakul (Swakara) Board of Namibia will attend the auction, as the world’s fashion eyes will once again be firmly fixed on Namibia’s ‘Black Diamonds’.
At this auction, only white and black pelts will be on offer, Agra, the sole marketing agent of the sought-after pelts, has confirmed.
The Swakara pelts, Namibia’s black diamonds, were highly prominent at the Hong Kong Fur and Fashion Fair in China and at the Milan International Fur Fair – Mi-Fur, in Italy.
In 2014, Agra facilitated the sale of Swakara pelts at two international auctions in Copenhagen. At the April auction, 64 462 pelts out of 68 500 Swakara pelts on offer were sold with an average price of N$566.87 per pelt. This was a decrease of 12.37 percent on the N$646.88 achieved at the September 2013 auction. At the September 2014 auction, Agra sold 100 percent of the total Swakara offering of 52 013 pelts. This auction broke the record with black Swakara top lot achieving the highest ever price of N$2 964.
The highest price achieved for white Swakara pelt at the April 2014 auction was N$2 405.60 purchased by Konstantinou Furs from Kastoria Greece, while black pelts achieved the same price of N$2 405.60 paid by EKATERNIA Furs from Russia. At the September 2014 auction, the highest price achieved for white Swakara was N$2 546, purchased by Tony Jessop, broker of Avanti Furs from Kastoria, Greece. The highest price ever achieved for the black Swakara was N$2 964, paid by Thomas Rebild, a Danish broker who bought on behalf of Elena Furs from Moscow, Russia. Normally, Elena Furs buys mink and wild furs at auctions. However, the company is now designing a new collection using Swakara.
Swakara pelts are sold exclusively at Kopenhagen Fur’s April and September auctions, the largest fur auction house. This years’ auctions will take place on April 18, and September 9, in Copenhagen.