SWAKARA PELTS PREPARED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL AUCTION
Published: 27 Mar 2015

Agra’s Pelt Centre dispatched a consignment of 61 110 Swakara pelts in preparation for the international auction. The pelts with an estimated value of N$ 34 million will be auctioned on the 18th of April 2015 at Kopenhagen Fur in Copenhagen, Denmark. At this auction, only white and black pelts will be on offer. A delegation of representatives from Agra and the Karakul (Swakara) Board of Namibia will attend this auction.

Agra as the sole marketing agent of the sought-after pelts and the Swakara Board of Namibia represented the Swakara industry at two high-profile international fur shows recently. 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, Denmark. At the April auction, out of 68 500 Swakara pelts on offer, 64 462 pelts were sold with an average price of N$ 566.87 per pelt. This was a decrease of 12.37% on the N$646.88 achieved at the September 2013 auction. At the September 2014 auction, Agra sold 100% of the total swakara offering of 52 013 pelts. This auction broke the record with black swakara top lot achieving the highest ever price of N$ 2 964.00.

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$ 2 546.00, purchased by Tony Jessop, broker of Avanti Furs from Kastoria, Greece. The highest price ever achieved for the black Swakara was N$ 2 964.00, 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 the 18th of April, and the 9th of September respectively, in Copenhagen, Denmark.