Mink seen winding up firm

SANDY PARKER REPORT, VOL. 31, ISSUE 25, AUGUST 27, 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.

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International Fur News
with Sandy Parker

Mink seen winding up firm

WITH THE AUCTION SEASON WINDING UP THIS WEEK AND NEXT IN SCANDINAVIA, all eyes will be on those sales for any last-minute price shifts that could bring changes for the retail season just ahead. Skin buyers heading to Copenhagen for this week’s big sale, however, were expecting little more than a routine reception for an end-of-season collection. Mink prices, having reached record heights last year, went through a sharp downward correction in February and have since recovered to levels considered more realistic.

THE CHINESE AND RUSSIAN MARKETS ARE DESCRIBED AS ACTIVE and gearing up for further increases in the upcoming season. But while the Russians apparently are finding no difficulty with the current mink price structure, this is reported not to be the case in China, where skin dealers are said to be having trouble turning a profit at Kopenhagen June levels. As a result, Chinese buyers at this week’s sale are expected to be looking for skins at lower prices, including breeders and lowgrades. Another option available to them is mink raised in China, where production has been increasing by leaps and bounds. Chinese production is understood to have reached about 10 million pelts last year and a further increase of 25% was said to have been planned for this year, which would bring Chinese production close in size to that of Denmark, the world’s largest producer.

Up to now, the entire Chinese crop has been consumed by the domestic trade, including garments produced for export. Nevertheless, Chinese buyers also have accounted for as much as 85% of the skins sold in Copenhagen and have dominated the other auctions elsewhere. The question being asked is, at what point will their own expanding domestic supply cause them to cut back on purchases at the European and North American auctions? And what effect would such a cutback have on the price structure?

IN THIS ISSUE:
Mink Seen Winding Up Firm …
… but China Buyers May Hold Back
Price Could Be Key Factor
They May Wait for Own Crop
Western Markets Still Sluggish

For extracts from back issues of Sandy Parker Reports see News Archive. Subscribers can access an archive of complete issues at www.sandyparker.com.