The Pelt Centre: Your link to the global market

Your Link To The Global Market



All karakul pelts collected from southern Africa arrive at The Pelt Centre, a subsidy of Agra Co-operative.

Services offered by The Pelt Centre:

We:

  • provide you with a producer number and barcode tags which we request you attach in the appropriate manner
  • insure your pelts from the time of delivery to any Agra branch until they are sold
     
  • control all receipts and pelt figures received from branches
  • store your pelts in cold storage prior to sorting
  • handle your pelts with the same care and respect they received on your farm
  • are dedicated to produce a range of products that are tuned to the market’s needs, and attain the best possible return for your pelts
  • produce, display and promote Swakara sample lots in the international shop window
  • sell your pelts for the highest price by auction to the international fur trade
  • pay the proceeds of your pelts to you on given dates into your bank account or by cheque
  • provide you with clear and transparent computerised statements after each auction
  • provide you with the latest market information by means of our auction reports and regular radio and other media reports
  • market both commercial and special types of karakul wool
  • provide pelt sorting courses to give you a better understanding of the Swakara product
  • give extension, do assessments on shows and farmers’ days, and assist with the provision of rams
  • help with the organisation of annual general members' meetings (KPF)
  • strive for good communication with our producers


The Pelt Centre was first opened in 1969 by the Hudson's Bay company, the London auction house working with the FCU. The function of the Pelt Centre then was to pre-sort karakul pelts collected by the FCU and export these to London where senior technicians would complete the sorting by a process called "passing". The object of passing was to check and rectify the sorting stages completed at The Pelt Centre, and add a further process that equalised pelts over lots throughout a string, the process aimed to compensate for the variety of curl types and qualities within one grade. This was caused by a large sorting team, each person with his own set of sorting rules, and each person possessing varying degrees of ability and experience; therefore, it was the job of the senior technician to try to produce a homogenous consistency for the end product. At this time, the magical process where karakul pelts are turned into the Swakara brand only happened in London.

Since the closing of HBA in 1989, Agra Co-operative took over the responsibility for producing a finished assortment in-house at The Pelt Centre up to catalogue level; so, therefore, today the Swakara brand is created here in Windhoek where the majority of south-western African karakul pelts are produced. This is an important value-adding process, for the benefit of the producer; it should not go unmentioned, that throughout the dreadful fur trade slump that brought destruction on a global level, Agra supported the Pelt Centre and therefore the local karakul industry by running this sorting centre at a loss over a period of many years.



The Value Adding Process


"Like a fingerprint, every karakul is unique. Meticulous care is taken to produce lots that offer the manufacturer the highest degree of uniformity in size, fibre formation, fibre length, weight, fibre quality and pattern excellence. While the modern karakul assortment has been refined in theory to the level of a science, the sorting of karakul is and will remain an art. The product of an artisan, not machine".

Source - Swakara Product Guide, Jeremy Duffield-Harding The Karakul Board of Namibia ©2005.

In the production of an assortment, it's inevitable that pelts are lost in the system, this is due to human error. The sorting system is designed for efficiency, questioned, changed, adapted, modified, broken down to nothing, rebuilt from a clean sheet of paper, questioned, modified, and refined; absolutely, everything possible is done to ensure compatibility with the market's requirements. Finn Winther, sorting manager at Kopenhagen Fur, when observing the sorting system employed at the Pelt Centre made the comment "It is German!", after experiencing more time at the centre, he wished to revise his earlier comment to "More than German!"


Two weeks work. 50,000 classified pelts ready for quality grading - Photo: J Duffield-Harding

Colour coded and ready to go: Green - Curl, Blue - Semi-Flat, Brown - Ribbed, Orange - Flat, Broadtail & Galliac Broadtail, Yellow - Medium Sizes.


A small dedicated team is key to efficiency, however, they are under extreme pressure after the closing date, because at present 50% or more of the collection only arrive in the centre after this deadline. If producers delivered their pelts regularly, throughout the collection period, they would greatly help the workflow through the sorting, and final processes prior to export. Ironically, it's the producers who deliver their pelts on the closing day that loose out, because, their pelts are more likely to be downgraded. This is because when a sorter is working beyond his limit, it is much easier to see negative traits than find positive ones; human beings are quick to find fault, and slow to appreciate.

The sorting order is:

1) Classification for curl type

2) Quality grading

3) Draw and match sample lots

Sample lots are drawn to represent the remaining pelts in one grade. These are viewed by prospective buyers during the inspection period at Kopenhagen Fur in the week prior to the auction. After the sample lots have been drawn, the bar codes on each pelt are read by computer and stored in a database, from which, the catalogue is produced. The pelts are sent to Copenhagen along with an electronic catalogue, at Kopenhagen Fur, this catalogue is printed, and the sample lots displayed for inspection, while bulk lots are stored awaiting delivery to the customer after the auction.


The Sorting Studio, The Pelt Centre, Windhoek - Photo: J Duffield-Harding

Without sound, a peaceful setting. It's understandable for visitors to the air-conditioned Sorting Studio to think that work on such an elegant product should be a pleasurable experience, choreographed to the sound of classical music, Mozart, Vivaldi perhaps, however the truth is nearer to The Chemical Brothers, Metallica or Rammstien! Such is the unrelenting pace of sorting for a pelt auction.


Masters of deception



If you can learn to see through the smoke screens and counter smoke screens, the inspection week is the best place to conduct market research. There is no better alternative to standing next to a commission agent who is experienced and a regular Swakara buyer, while he is inspecting Swakara sample lots; it is even better if he has his customer present with him. The most common smoke screens are: Swakara is overpriced, there is no chance of passing this price on to retail level, the price has to come down, I don't have any orders, there is no interest in this article anymore, and, I'm looking but I wont buy. While there are times when these statements may be true, we hear them almost every auction, they are used far more often than: I don't have any stock, I have to buy, my customer wants to buy 10,000, you don't produce enough Swakara. The trick is to look for the other comments, that are usually played down, and of course, the things which exist only by their absence. Consequently, inspection week is a time of mounting concern, and the auction an arena of immense stress; because, there is always an element of uncertainty until the hammer drops. Meaningful information gained through contact with customers during inspection week, is brought back to the Pelt Centre, and injected into the assortment, for the mutual benefit of both producer and buyer.


There is no calm before the storm. Auction room, Kopenhagen Fur. Photo: Koos Kotze


After sale relief! From left: G Biwa, Jeremy, Top Lot buyer Konstanus Boutos, Wessel & Koos Kotze, (Koos is smiling the most because he has one of his pelts in there) Kopenhagen Fur - Photo: Jesper Clausen