SANDY PARKER REPORT, VOL. 31, ISSUE 42, DEC. 24, 2007
The following extract is reproduced with permission from Sandy Parker Reports, Weekly International Fur News. Sandy Parker has been covering the fur industry for more than four decades. For most of that time he has published a weekly newsletter, detailing results of international pelt auctions, wholesale price trends, business developments and movements in the trade, as well as economic and political activities that may impact on it.
Subscribe now and receive all the latest news, either in print or electronically. Just $150 a year for 48 issues! Sandy Parker Reports, 21219 Lago Circle, Boca Raton, FL 33433; Tel: (561) 477-3764; Fax: (561) 862-7052; SParker@SandyParker.com; www.sandyparker.com
International Fur News
with Sandy Parker
December retail sales holding up
DECEMBER RETAIL FUR SALES HAVE BEEN BENEFITTING FROM MOSTLY SEASONABLE WEATHER in the key markets around the world, but so far have not been registering sharp gains over last year’s month. Considering that last December turned out to be a disappointment because of unseasonably mild temperatures around the northern hemisphere, merely edging past those figures doesn’t give retailers much to shout about. Nevertheless, as they counted on more holiday business to be done and with more than a week remaining in the month, retailers were optimistic they would finish substantially ahead. Especially, if the weather continues to hold up as the calendar moves into winter.
A check of retailers in the main U.S. markets last week turned up mostly favorable reports but, here and there, also some disappointment. However, the few who are not happy with their figures are not blaming the weather this time. Local economic conditions are cited, particularly plant closings or company downsizings that tend to put a crimp in consumer spending plans. But, nationwide, tight credit along with declining home values and rising prices of gasoline and heating fuel are being blamed for reduced traffic in shopping malls.
CONSISTENT WITH THE ECONOMIC PRESSURES IS THE FUR SALES PATTERN that has been emerging, with better items moving relatively better than popular-price goods. This finds upscale retailers with designer-label and better merchandise drawing better traffic than others, but also other stores moving fashion goods better than classics.
In general, the furriers tended to single out sheared mink as their leading sellers, mostly in jackets and short coats, but also some long coats. These, along with shearlings, sheared beaver jackets and a wide range of accessories. As to full-length regular mink coats, some designer labels at $10,000 and higher were reported sold.
IN THIS ISSUE:
December Retail Sales Holding Up
Mink Prices Ease at Helsinki Sale
Bluefox Prices Advance 10%
For extracts from back issues of Sandy Parker Reports see News Index. Subscribers can access an archive of complete issues at www.sandyparker.com.
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SANDY PARKER REPORT, VOL. 31, ISSUE 41, DEC. 17, 2007
The following extract is reproduced with permission from Sandy Parker Reports, Weekly International Fur News. Sandy Parker has been covering the fur industry for more than four decades. For most of that time he has published a weekly newsletter, detailing results of international pelt auctions, wholesale price trends, business developments and movements in the trade, as well as economic and political activities that may impact on it.
Subscribe now and receive all the latest news, either in print or electronically. Just $150 a year for 48 issues! Sandy Parker Reports, 21219 Lago Circle, Boca Raton, FL 33433; Tel: (561) 477-3764; Fax: (561) 862-7052; SParker@SandyParker.com; www.sandyparker.com
International Fur News
with Sandy Parker
Chinese seen cutting fur crops
ALTHOUGH RAPID EXPANSION OF CHINA’S PRODUCTION OF RANCHED FURS HAS DESTABILIZED PRICES of some items at the commercial level, Finnish Fur Sales is confident this is only a temporary situation. In a recent assessment of the international market, the company noted that, while Finnish bluefox farmers had reduced this year’s production by 30%, plummeting prices have caused the Chinese to slash their crop by as much as 60%. Similarly, while Finnish raccoon still enjoys good demand, last year’s excess production of Chinese raccoon – combined with the mild winter – has resulted in warehouses packed with unsold stocks of coats trimmed with the Chinese skins. However, finnraccoon, she points out, remains a special product.
By the same token, the Finnish auction house expects Chinese mink production to make a sharp turnaround following its explosive growth. The flood of mink in that market has caused commercial garment prices to drop about 25% and it is feared that budget-priced items may harm the overall image of mink there. Nevertheless, the company believes the price differences between the grades of mink will remain significant in the Chinese wholesale market, favoring shorter-haired pelts. Premium quality products, it states, are less likely to face price competition.
FUR APPAREL IMPORTS INTO THE U.S. DECLINED AGAIN IN OCTOBER, continuing a 17-month slide that reflected a cutback in planning by retailers following two disappointing seasons. The latest declines were across the board and were true of all the major shippers. Even Italy, which had been the lone source to show increases most of the year, registered a drop in October. Total imports from all sources during the month, according to the Commerce Dept., amounted to $30.2 million, down 20% from the same month last year. This consisted of $17.7 million in mink apparel, down 11%, and $12.5 million in other furs, a drop of 31%.
IN THIS ISSUE:
Retail Sales Moving Along
Mink Down at Danish Opener
Farmed Sables Soar in Russia
Chinese Seen Cutting Crops
U.S. Imports Continue Slide
For extracts from back issues of Sandy Parker Reports see News Index. Subscribers can access an archive of complete issues at www.sandyparker.com.
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For further information contact Fur Commission USA.
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SANDY PARKER REPORT, VOL. 31, ISSUE 40, DEC. 10, 2007
The following extract is reproduced with permission from Sandy Parker Reports, Weekly International Fur News. Sandy Parker has been covering the fur industry for more than four decades. For most of that time he has published a weekly newsletter, detailing results of international pelt auctions, wholesale price trends, business developments and movements in the trade, as well as economic and political activities that may impact on it.
Subscribe now and receive all the latest news, either in print or electronically. Just $150 a year for 48 issues! Sandy Parker Reports, 21219 Lago Circle, Boca Raton, FL 33433; Tel: (561) 477-3764; Fax: (561) 862-7052; SParker@SandyParker.com; www.sandyparker.com
International Fur News
with Sandy Parker
New mink crops coming in well
THE COOLER WEATHER AND SNOW IN SOME AREAS ARE WORKING WELL FOR NORTH AMERICAN MINK RANCHERS, who will be winding up this year’s pelting operations in the next few days. A check of ranchers in the major farming sections of the U.S. and Canada indicated a good crop in both countries from a quality standpoint, slightly bigger than last year’s, but not as large as planned. Conditions were generally favorable, although a warmer-than-usual spring in the Utah region was said to have caused some kit losses, while ongoing disease problems in Nova Scotia also trimmed production there. The combination of aleutian disease and virus enteritis was estimated to have shaved Nova Scotia’s crop by about 3%, but it was still expected to total about 1.2 million pelts, or about 20% higher than last year. That province accounts for about half of Canada’s mink production, which this year is projected to be about 2.3 million.
BUT THIS YEAR’S INCREASE IN NOVA SCOTIA IS EXPECTED TO BE WIPED OUT NEXT YEAR by reported cutbacks in Canadian production plans for 2008, largely due to economic factors. In this connection, the strong Canadian dollar is being cited as a factor. Although the loonie has slipped from its recent record high against the greenback and is now at about parity, its value is still higher than it has been for many years. For all those years when it was below the U.S. buck, Canadian ranchers benefitted from the exchange rate because their pelts were sold in U.S. dollars and they collected in their own currency with which they covered their costs.
Now, however, that perk has disappeared and they are also faced with higher energy, feed and labor costs. Canadian farmers’ costs per mink pelt are now up to between $40 and $45 per pelt, compared with about $35 in the U.S.
IN THIS ISSUE:
Good Start for December Retail
New Mink Crops Coming in Well
Trade Wary of Big Chinese Crop
Canada $ Back Below Parity
Blackglama Marks 40 Years
For extracts from back issues of Sandy Parker Reports see News Index. Subscribers can access an archive of complete issues at www.sandyparker.com.
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For further information contact Fur Commission USA.
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© 1998-2011 Fur Commission USA

SANDY PARKER REPORT, VOL. 31, ISSUE 39, DEC. 3, 2007
The following extract is reproduced with permission from Sandy Parker Reports, Weekly International Fur News. Sandy Parker has been covering the fur industry for more than four decades. For most of that time he has published a weekly newsletter, detailing results of international pelt auctions, wholesale price trends, business developments and movements in the trade, as well as economic and political activities that may impact on it.
Subscribe now and receive all the latest news, either in print or electronically. Just $150 a year for 48 issues! Sandy Parker Reports, 21219 Lago Circle, Boca Raton, FL 33433; Tel: (561) 477-3764; Fax: (561) 862-7052; SParker@SandyParker.com; www.sandyparker.com
International Fur News
with Sandy Parker
“Fur-Free Friday” protests the quietest ever
THIS YEAR’S ANTI-FUR ACTIVITIES ON SO-CALLED ‘FUR-FREE FRIDAY’ marked the 21st anniversary of that movement and was described as the quietest ever. So quiet, in fact, that media coverage was almost non-existent. A red-letter day on the activists’ calendar, when they go all-out to win public support for their cause with marches and demonstrations staged to attract media attention, this year’s again proved to be a non-event, according to retailers and authorities in cities that were targeted. The main focus has always been New York City, with marches for a mile or so down Fifth Avenue and other main thoroughfares and raucous rallies at upscale stores along the route. At their peak in the late-1980s, the marchers numbered as many as 2,000 and the events were well recorded by the media.
But times have changed, as have people’s concerns and the media’s sense of what constitutes news and merits their space or time. Not only has the anti-fur issue given way to a resurgence in fur’s fashion appeal and lost its news value, but the war in Iraq, continuing problems in the Middle East and other concerns closer to home have been providing enough fodder to fill pages and air time. But this year’s activities themselves could hardly be called newsworthy in terms of either size or nature.
PROMOTION DEPT.: The Fur Council of Canada is launching a million-dollar newspaper advertising campaign across the country this week extolling the virtues of fur as environmentally friendly. The ads, appearing in national papers, feature a young fur-clad woman as an environmental activist and use such catchphrases as renewable, recyclable, biodegradable and non-toxic to depict fur as eco-friendly. The council also stresses the humane treatment of animals used to produce fur.
IN THIS ISSUE:
Mercury Drop Sparks Sales
Weather Still Key to Season
Russian, Chinese Markets Active
Anti-Fur Demonstrations Muted
U.S. Consumer Confidence Down
For extracts from back issues of Sandy Parker Reports see News Index. Subscribers can access an archive of complete issues at www.sandyparker.com.
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For further information contact Fur Commission USA.
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© 1998-2011 Fur Commission USA