Elevated swakara prices in Kopenhagen

Just over 52,000 swakara pelts changed hands last week at the Kopenhagen fur auction where Namibian karakoel farmers enjoyed the results of one of their best seasons ever.
Sending Namibia’s swakara production to the international auction in Kopenhagen twice a year is the responsibility of Agra Provision which manages the specialised pelt centre in Windhoek solely for this purpose.
The auction delivered remarkable results, amongst others, fetching the highest ever black hammer price for the top lot at N$2964.00, an increase of N$ 558.40 comparing to the April 2014 auction. Agra sold the entire Swakara offering of 52013.
The pelt offer consisted of 35,872 black, 8794 white, 3835 grey, 725 brown and 2787 spotted pelts. The grey pelts were last sold in September 2013, and fetched an average price per pelt of N$710.60. Brown pelts, last offered in 2012, fetched an average price of N$640.30 per pelt. The fur industry in general was under pressure over the past year.

The expectations for last week’s auction were subdued. At the April auction earlier this year, not all the pelts were sold, and prices dropped. The first lots of black pelts seemed to confirms this trend but the white pelts provided a pleasant surprise achieving an average pelt price of N$818.90, an increase of 10.9% over the April auction.
Dagmar Honsbein, General Manager of Agra ProVision, said “Prior to the auction, activity in the auction house was limited. We feared a repeat of the April 2014 auction proceedings; especially as the usual buyers of Swakara pelts arrived rather late to inspect the offer. [But] we are delighted to inform our producers that sales have indeed recovered.” Attending on behalf of Agra were,Ryno van der Merwe, Chairperson of the Board; Peter Kazmaier, CEO; and Raimar von Hase, Chairperson of the Karakul Board.