MINK PRICES REMAINED ON SOLID GROUND LAST WEEK, as a record buyer turnout at Finnish Fur Sales indicated that increased confidence had indeed returned to the market. At the same time, prices of bluefox - which had gone mostly unsold at the December sale - dropped another notch or so to settle at a level that resulted in a high turnover, indicating that item too has regained the market's confidence. Nevertheless, the overall results of the sale, which was conducted in euros, were affected by the recent sudden downturn in the value of the U.S. dollar, in which most of the international fur trade is calculated.

The results also drove home the fact that China, despite the financial turmoil that has engulfed the world markets - including that country - believes sales of fur garments and fur-trimmed items will still be good. Not only did the sale draw a record attendance of 550, but the Hong Kong/Chinese contingent reached an all-time high of about 250 and they dominated the buying in both the mink and fox categories. These were principally mainland Chinese, including dealers and manufacturers. In the fox catalog, they replaced the missing Russians who have dominated that item for the past two years. But the severely weakened ruble and government curbs on the outflow of hard currency have put them in a difficult position.

UNFORTUNATELY, SAID PIRKKO RANTANEN-KERVINEN, the auction's managing director, current fox prices continue to be below production costs. "The positive thing, however, is that the sales percentage is high and that the Chinese have returned to bluefox," she commented. In last December's sale, the 126,000 blues were only 32% sold; last week, the more than 300,000 pelts were 94% sold. Finnish fox farmers slashed production of blue by 30% two years ago because of unsatisfactory prices; at these levels, there could be further cuts.

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