Fur market experiences new increase in prices
The price of mink skins continues the price trend that was initially seen during the January auction. In January, prices increased by 10 percent and during the recent February auction, the average price of mink skins increased by 11 percent. A total of 5.9 million mink skins were up for sale during the February auction and the Danish mink skins were sold at an average price of 452 DKK, mink skins supplied from international farmers were sold at an average price of 357 DKK. The total revenue reached 2.6 billion DKK.
- There was a solid demand in the auction room during our February auction where the customers were in strong competition with each other. They fought to get the final bid. Once again, the customers from China / Hong Kong dominated the market. After the crisis last year, the fur trade has made a strong comeback, and many new customers now see opportunities in the fur trade due to the low prices of raw goods, says Tage Pedersen, Chairman of Kopenhagen Fur's Board of Directors.
570 customers visited the auction in Denmark, and over 300 came from China. 80 of these visitors were new customers that visited Denmark for the first time. The demand for fur goods for the Chinese market was supported by a cold winter and financially strong Chinese consumers. The retail market in China is now preparing for the Spring Festival, which is a high season for purchasing fur goods.
- The current market situation indicates that the bulk of unsold fur garments is now removed from the Chinese market. So my immediate assessment is, that the increase in prices at our auction is driven by a real need for a supply of raw goods to Chinese manufacturers, says Tage Pedersen.
The sale of fur goods in Europe and USA has also been satisfactory throughout this winter. Europe has experienced a relatively warm winter compared to the U.S, but fashion trends helped the sales figures in Europe.
- In the U.S, they experienced a cold winter and fashion trends are also an important factor for the sale of fur garments. Therefore, the reports from the American market have been positive, says Tage Pedersen.
The price level of Kopenhagen Fur's February auction is 5 to 10 percent over the price level set by the latest international fur auction at the Canadian skin auction house, NAFA.
- Our offering of mink skins is not surpassed by any other auction house. We collect large quantities of skins and therefore many of our customers visit Copenhagen when they need to purchase mink. This means that demand is concentrated in our auction room, which results in a higher price. Also, the customers feel more secure when they purchase skins at our auction house, because the world market price is determined here. There are no surprises here, which could be the case if you were to purchase many skins at a smaller market place, where the price setting is slightly uncertain, says Tage Pedersen.
Kopenhagen Fur's total offering in 2015 will be an estimated 27.4 million skins. This record quantity will expand and solidify Kopenhagen Fur's position as the world's largest auction house for mink.