APRIL 2014 SWAKARA AUCTION RESULTS
Published: 14 Apr 2014 

 
Agra facilitated the sale of the Swakara offering at the April pelt auction in Copenhagen, Denmark, with the highest ever black pelt price in Namibian Dollar of N$2 405.60 per pelt. Of the total offer of 68 500 Swakara pelts, 64 462 were sold at this auction on the 10th of April 2014. The average price was N$566.87 per pelt, a decrease of 12.37% on the N$646.88 achieved at the September 2013 auction. 

The pelts sold consisted of 48 855 black, 14 030 white and 1 577 diverse pelts. 

The highest price achieved for white Swakara was N$2 405.60 for a lot of 58 KF Selected Extra pelts, purchased by Mr Michaelis Konstantinou of Konstantinou Furs from Kastoria Greece. The highest price ever for black pelts in Namibian Dollars was N$2 405.60, for a lot of 108 O Light Selected Extra pelts, paid by EKATERINA Furs from Russia.

The pelt offer was bought by 23 buyers with other prospective buyers bidding, but not being successful. The biggest buyer of Swakara was the company Bourtsos from Greece who purchased 11 339 pelts. Italy this time bought the most pelts, with the agents from England in second place and Greece third. 

Fur-skin sales at recent fairs and auctions were below expectation and left the skin dealers with high stock reserves. This was influenced by the warm winters in Russia and China and the uncertainty of the Russia/Ukraine political situation spreading across, especially in Europe. Quality black and specific white pelts still achieved good prices while lower grade pelts‘ prices decreased further. The biggest drop in price were with the spotted pelts which dropped 43% in Danish Krone (DKK). Prices of mink dropped with approximately 50% from September 2013 which also had an effect on the Swakara prices as it is linked to the mink fur skin pricing structure.

The top Namibian producer (with more than 250 pelts) at this auction was Lovedale Farming from Helmeringhausen who sold 364 pelts at an average of N$864.09. The top South African producer was Johan Moller of Postmasburg who achieved an average price of R807.56 for 278 pelts.

This auction was graced by the presence of Dr Malan Lindeque, the Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Trade and Industry, Mr Joseph Iita, the Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry and Nikola Conradie, winner of the 2013 Swakara – Namibian Young Designer Awards. They participated in the auction to learn more about the sale of Swakara, interact with the buyers, understand the market trends from year to year, the grading system and how marketing is handled.