Successful pelt auction

NAMIBIAN karakul pelts, which are known worldwide under the Swakara brand, sold well at the Copenhagen international fur auction in Denmark last week.

Pelt prices increased by about 8,5 per cent in US currency, but due to the stronger Namibia dollar, which is pegged to the South African rand, average pelt prices were about ten per cent lower.The white Swakara pelts did very well for the first time on auction with a 23 per cent increase in Danish Krone compared with the contract prices received in April 2009. The white pelts received much interest. Every one of the 50 949 Swakara pelts on offer was sold by Namibia’s Agra Cooperative in Copenhagen on September 13. An average price of 195.83 Danish Krone (DKK) was attained, representing a decrease of 0.19 per cent compared with the DKK196.21 achieved in April 2009. The average price in Namibian dollar of N$286.69 reflects a decrease of 10.09 per cent compared with the average of N$321.79 achieved at the previous auction. The price in US dollars was US$38.41 compared with US$35.36 during the April 2009 auction, reflecting an increase of 8.6 per cent.The Swakara pelts on offer consisted of 40 149 black, 5 125 grey, 4 239 white, 315 brown and 1 121 miscellaneous pelts.The highest price for black pelts of N$600.24 was paid for a lot of 64 D Light Lyre Select Super pelts bought by a Greek buyer. The highest price for white pelts was N$878.40 for a lot of 146 pelts. The pelts were purchased by 25 buyers, while there were others that actively made bids but weren’t successful. The major buyer was from Hong Kong, with agents from England second and Japan third. Buyers from Italy, Greece, the USA and Germany also participated actively at the auction.The inspection before the auction showed that there is still much interest in Swakara, according to Agra, but the buyers are worried that because of the worldwide economic conditions, more expensive articles will sell more slowly and they fear that the shops still have stock. The top Namibian producer – with over 250 pelts – for this auction was RH Losper from Keetmanshoop, who sold 256 pelts at an average price of N$440.51.