Firm skin prices expected at Copenhagen auction

SANDY PARKER REPORT, VOL. 30, ISSUE 40, DEC. 11, 2006
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.
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International Fur News
with Sandy Parker
Firm skin prices expected at Copenhagen auction
SKIN BUYERS ARRIVING IN COPENHAGEN THIS WEEK for the opening of the new auction season at Kopenhagen Fur are expecting mink prices to be at least firm to the closing levels in September. The retail season has opened strongly in China and Russia, both of which have been fueling the steep climb in skin prices for the past three years, and this is already translating into reorders at the wholesale level. But supplies of skins in manufacturers’ hands and in the open market are described as very low, which figures to turn up the pressure in the auction room. The initial offering – 1.2 million pelts – is normal for this time of the year, but is considered by some to be too small under the circumstances.
THERE HAD BEEN SOME CONCERN OVER RUSSIA’S PARTICIPATION IN THIS SALE because of customs problems that were holding up shipments, particularly from Greece. While an earlier – and much more serious – Chinese customs problem had been cleared up, the Russian government had clamped down on large shipments of fur garments that were finding their way into the country without paying duty and other taxes amounting to 50% or more ad valorem. Considering the volume of imports, the government figured it was losing millions of dollars. The immediate result was a pileup of outgoing shipments at the Thessalonika airport in Greece and of incoming goods at Moscow’s airport.
That situation now is reported to have been cleared up by a practical solution of give-and-take in which the government is willing to ‘wink’ at undervalued – but nevertheless official – customs declarations. According to trade sources, the duty on a mink coat will average about $400, which is still far less than the official rate, but more than the extra cost of shipping through the so-called ‘black’ route.
IN THIS ISSUE:
Opening Mink Prices Seen Rising
Stocks Low, Needs Called High
China, Russia Markets Active
Russian Import Problems Solved
Ebbing Dollar Seen Raising Prices
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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