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Namibian furs off to Copenhagen

Adolf Awaseb (left) and Henry Awaseb are both Pelt Sorters at Agra’s Pelt Centre in Windhoek where they work under the guidance of fur specialist Jeremy Duffield-Harding, to ensure maximum value for Karakul farmers when their pelts are sent to the international fur auction in Copenhagen.

In preparation for the major international spring auction which starts in Copenhagen, Denmark, next weekend, Agra last week dispatched more than 61,000 washed and sorted Karakul pelts, branded under the exclusive Swakara fur label.

The pelts with an estimated value of N$34 million will be auctioned on 18 April 2015 at Kopenhagen Fur in Copenhagen. At the spring auction, only white and black pelts will be on offer. A delegation from Agra and the Karakul Board will escort the valuable consignment to the trading floor. Agra as the sole marketing agent of the sought-after pelts and the Karakul Board 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. At the April auction, out of 68,500 Swakara pelts on offer, 64,462 pelts were sold for 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 the black Swakara top lot achieving the highest price ever of N$2964.00. The highest price achieved for white Swakara pelt at the April 2014 auction was N$2405.60 purchased by Konstantinou Furs from Kastoria Greece. At the same auction, black Swakara fetched the same price of N$2405.60 paid by Ekaterina Furs from Russia. At the September 2014 auction, the highest price achieved for white Swakara was N$2546.00, purchased by Tony Jessop, broker of Avanti Furs from Kastoria. The highest price ever achieved for the black Swakara was N$2964.00, paid by Thomas Rebild, a Danish broker who bought on behalf of Elena Furs from Moscow. Normally, Elena Furs prefers to buy only 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 18 April, and 09 September.

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