Here’s a recap of the prices:

Fur Harvesters Auction, Inc.  January 7, 2012 fur sale averages:

Beaver – $7.03-33.85 (most $18.42-33.85)

Mink – $20.87

Otter – $82.15

Muskrat – $8.72

Fisher – $38.00-$57.47

Raccoon – $13.31-$18.89

Red Fox – $26.64-53.43

Grey Fox – $24.32

Skunk – $2.51

Coyote – $63.30-$68.77

Wolverine – $222.35

Wolf – $125.31-$403.94

Weasel – $3.56

Additionally, North American Fur Auctions held a private treaty fur sale on January 10, 2012 that reaffirmed the elevated fur prices.

Click here for the NAFA Report.

Here’s an overview of those results:

January 2012 Private Treaty Sale

Sale of Muskrat Exceeds Expectation
January 10, 2012

NAFA held a Private Treaty Sale over this past weekend which included nearly 100,000 fresh Muskrats as well as a selected offering of Coyotes, Beaver and Raccoon.

Muskrats sold 100% at very high prices with Section I averaging $9.03. The better qualities were sold in line with our record-breaking May 2011 sale.

Coyotes sold 100% at increased prices with a limited collection trimming coyote averaging $70.47, reflecting very strong demand from the North American trim trade.

Beavers sold 100% at sharply increased prices, reflecting a better understanding of this article from China, which now recognizes it is priced very attractively in either square centimeters or square inches. Overall Eastern larger sizes averaged $41.17 with Westerns at $37.03.

The limited offering of Raccoon was not large enough to attract sufficient buying power and was mostly withdrawn. To achieve success, this article needs a larger attendance and more participation from major overseas markets, which will be well represented in our February auction.

NAFA’s senior management is currently travelling to the major international markets and we are expecting a very large attendance for our February sale.

All fur was brought in before the deadline of noontime Saturday, and over half a dozen fur buyers made their way along the crowded tables in the fairgrounds building, inspecting and evaluating the quality of the hundreds of lots of fur.  The sale was done via silent auction and buyers’ bids were due by 5pm on Saturday.

After the bids were tabulated, sheets of paper with individual results were placed on several tables for trappers to examine the prices bid for their furs.  Like the others, I made my way through the small crowd to to see how my furs did.  All I can say is that I was VERY pleasantly surprised by the numbers.  Trappers were smiling all around.

Here’s a quick recap:

Coyotes were a hot selling item.  621 coyotes were offered, and 578 sold, at an average of $44.83.  It appears that the early demand for coyotes seen at the NAFA auction has continued.

Bobcats sold at 100% of the 132 offered, at an average of $572.21.  Looks like cat prices are back to the high levels of a couple years ago.

Muskrat averaged $5.28, which isn’t bad for western ‘rats.  Only a couple hundred were offered, and some appeared to be freezer ‘rats.  Mine were fresh and averaged over $6.25.

Raccoon (231 offered) averaged $18.92.

Marten averaged $35.85.  Some folks commented that this was a little lower than they’d received at NAFA.

Beaver averaged $14.41.  This item is still lagging.  Not many were offered, as I suspect people trapped very few beaver for fur this year.  I put a couple of large beaver in the sale that averaged $22.50.

Here are the rest of the averages:

Badger – $25.50

Red Fox – $31.22

Mink – $11.90

Otter – $46.63

Skunk – $7.80

Ermine – $2.31

Porcupine guard hair – $22.82

Beaver castor – $44.23

The January fur sales at Fur Harvesters Auctions and North American Fur Auctions are completed and have provided valuable information going forward in this year’s fur market.

FHA held the first major auction of the year on January 7.  Prices were encouraging for most items, but the majority did not sell at 100%.

The hottest items at the FHA sale appeared to be bobcat (lynx cat), which sold at only 42%, but on averages of over $500, and coyote, selling at 50-86% and prices of $31-39.

Raccoons averaged $13-17.  Mink were $12 and otter $42.  Red fox was highly variable ($13-28).

The major disappointments of this sale were beaver and muskrat.  Beaver sold at 49-77% and prices of $10-20 on average.  Many of these are northern beaver pelts that sold for more than double these prices several years ago.  Beaver prices have been lagging and don’t look good going forward.

Muskrat prices were influenced by the lack of buyers from the Chinese market, which typically drives this item.  Muskrat sold at levels of 66-100% and averages of $5.90-7.49.  While these prices are much higher than just a couple of years ago, they represent a decline from the last auction, and indicate hesitant buyers.

Just two days after the FHA sale, North American Fur Auctions held its second annual internet auction.  This auction was started as an alternative to an on-site January sale that didn’t receive lots of demand.

As a result of the lower muskrat prices at the FHA sale, offers for muskrats at NAFA were relatively weak.  Given this, NAFA decided to withdraw the entire offering of over 104,000 muskrats and try selling them at the February auction.  NAFA is confident that this strategy will pay off in higher muskrat prices in the coming weeks.

Beaver sold better at NAFA, averaging around $21-27.  Most sold.

Raccoon sold at $14-21, at about 75% clearance.

Coyote seemed to be the real winner at this auction, selling 100% at averages of $22-51.  The western/heavy coyote pelts were the biggest surprise, averaging $51.21.  Canadian demand is driving this market.

The first two auctions of the year may have raised more questions than answers.  Will muskrat prices continue on their recent highs?  Will the improved coyote market continue?  Will beaver prices ever make a comeback?

You can click on the links below for detailed price reports:

FHA January 2011 Fur Sale

NAFA January 2011 Fur Sale

Stay tuned for the February auctions for more details on the 2011 fur market.

This fall, cautious optimism is the key phrase when talking about the fur market.  Discussion has surrounded the increase in demand and recovering Chinese and Russian markets, but there seem to be more questions than answers.  After looking over fur market reports from the major players, I’ve put together a quick summary of what we might expect to see for fur prices this year.  I’ve also provided links to the different fur market reports so that you can read them for yourself.

Overall feelings about the fur market tend to be a mixture of uncertainty and positive expectations.  No one is really negative about the market, which is surprising considering how poorly things finished up last season.  Among the uncertainty is a glimmer of hope that increasing demand will drive higher prices.  So we’re probably looking at two possibilities: 1) the fur market stays the same as last year and prices continue to stay low, or 2) the recovering world economy drives more demand and prices climb.  While uncertainty abounds, nobody is expecting the market to drop substantially.

Here are some predictions for several species:

Muskrat – Expect excellent demand for muskrat early in the season.  This item sold out last year and should sell at good prices early.  Prices of $5-8 could be expected.  Demand could soften later in the year so folks are advising that you sell your muskrats early.  This could be one of the few real bright spots in this year’s fur market.

Mink – Ranch mink has been selling really well lately, with high demand and solid prices.  This is expected to help the wild mink market and good prices are expected.  Prices should be on par with last year, maybe higher.

Beaver – This item sold pretty poorly last year, and unfortunately, expectations for this year aren’t any better.  There are lots of holdover beaver pelts that went unsold, and demand is not expected to increase.  It may be smart to spend less time trapping beaver this year, or hold on to your furs until demand comes back.

Raccoon – Prices for the larger and heavy raccoon skins should be okay, and $8-10, perhaps upwards of $20, can be expected for these.  However, the smaller and flatter coon skins will be almost worthless.  The raccoon market has fluctuated substantially over the years, and a cold winter combined with increased Russian buying power could help things.  Demand is expected to pick up later in the season if the remaining unsold goods are cleared.

Otter – The slow recovery of the otter market after the crash several years ago is expected to continue, but it will be slow.  Expect some advances, with prices of $25-45, and prices greater than $50 for some skins.

Coyote – Not all of last year’s coyotes at the auction houses sold.  Unfortunately, the unsold goods were the semi-heavies and lower grades.  These goods will not sell well this year.  The big, heavy prairie coyotes sold out last year and should do well, with prices upwards of $30 or better.

Red Fox – Prices of ranch fox have been advancing, and wild red fox is expected to sell well.  $15-30 may be expected for better goods.

Bobcat/Lynx – Increased demand for bobcats is expected this year, which should result in higher prices.  Similar to last year, well spotted western bobcats could average over $300 in some situations.

Marten – While many of the larger Canadian and Alaskan marten did not sell last year, increased demand is expected and prices should be okay.

Fisher – Increased demand should drive higher prices for this item.

Grey Fox – This item continues to struggle.  None of the experts see a recovery in grey fox prices anytime soon.

As you can see, this year’s fur market forecast includes a huge variation in prices among different species, and lots of uncertainty.  As usual, time will tell.  The North American Fur Auctions and Fur Harvesters Auction February auctions should give us a much better idea of where the market stands.  You can learn more by reading the full reports from these organizations below:

NAFA 2010 Wild Fur Forecast

FHA 2010/2011 Wild Fur Forecast

You can also read market reports from Trapper and Predator Caller magazine and Fur-Fish-Game.

Here’s a link to the results.

Overall, prices weren’t terrible, but did not continue the uptrend started in March.  Almost all items sold at lower levels than in March, with only muskrat, wild mink and lynx selling 100% of the quantity offered.

Here’s NAFA’s report:

Report on May Wild Fur Sale
Wild Fur met with selective demand and prices declined from March levels on the opening day of the
NAFA Wild Fur sale.

The sale began Wednesday with a large offering of Beaver of which 80% of the sundry owner sold at generally lower levels than March. Otters sold 92% while Muskrat and Wild Mink sold 100%, again at lower levels than March. China and Hong Kong dominated the sale.

Sables and Fishers were disappointing in both percentage of sale and price levels. Sables sold 62% with better qualities, large sizes withdrawn, while Fishers sold 35%.

Raccoons sold 75%, primarily to Hong Kong/China. Brown colours were mostly withdrawn, while better colours sold 100%, at easier levels than March.

Day two of the sale had a more positive result with Lynx Cats selling 85% of the sundry owners under very strong competition, with Greece the major buyer. Lynx sold 100% at newly established levels to Russia and Greece.

Coyotes sold 70% with heavy Coyotes for trimming selling 95% under strong competition. Flatter commercial goods were mostly withdrawn.

Red Fox sold 75% with good interest in the heavier types.

Here are a few of the approximate overall averages:

Beaver: $7-15, Otter: $19-45, Muskrat: $2.66-7.47, Mink: $13, Marten: $21-49, Fisher: $56, Raccoon: $3-15, Lynx: $25-88, Bobcat: $27-273, Coyote: $4-32, Red Fox: $17, Badger: $22.

For more specific averages based on area and size, and other species averages, click here to see the full NAFA Report.

These results indicate that the fur market may remain in a depressed state for some time, particularly as European economic concerns keep fur buyers from acting too enthusiastically.  Many of the transactions at the NAFA sale took place via private treaty after not meeting the minimum prices set at the auction, indicating low overall demand.

Still, prices for many items are much better than what we were seeing last fall.  The fur market will recover, the only question is how long it will take.

The March 2010 fur sale at North American Fur Auctions reaffirmed feelings in the industry that the fur market was experiencing a serious comeback.  Prices advanced significantly, and most items sold at or near 100% clearance.

Click here to see the March 2010 NAFA Fur Sale Results.

The next NAFA auction will be on May 23-29, 2010.

First off was the Fur Harvesters Auction February 19th sale in Seattle.  Essentially every item offered for sale at the auction showed significant price advances from the previous auction.  Most notably, muskrats averaged $8.50, and western bobcats averaged $420.  Coyote, raccoon, mink, fox and beaver prices were significantly higher as well.

Click here to see the February FHA Auction Results.

In addition to the big FHA sale, several local auctions solidified the idea that the fur market is back from its recent lows.

The Utah Trappers Association fur sale averaged $263 on bobcats and $5.59 on muskrats last weekend.  Click here for results.

I was fortunate enough to be involved with the Western States Fur Auction held in Columbus, Montana this past weekend as well.  Despite a small offering, fur prices at this auction were extremely encouraging.  Bobcats averaged $353, muskrats were at $5.46, coyotes averaged over $34, and and western marten averaged over $30.

Overall, the recent fur auction results are a good indicator that the fur market has experienced a very significant recovery.  Sure, some fur prices can’t compare to the high levels they were at several years ago.  For instance, beaver prices are still quite low.  Still, most items have seen huge advances.  I think it’s safe to say that the fur market has bounced off of the lows we had to deal with over the past year, and future fur prices should be encouraging.  It’s almost a certainty that higher prices will encourage more trapping activity, particularly for muskrats and the other high priced items.  Only time will tell whether this increase in supply will saturate the market and depress fur prices in the coming months.

The bottom line is that fur prices have bounced back.  The fur market has turned for the better, and we trappers can only take advantage of this opportunity and hope that prices remain at an acceptable level.

Keep trapping!

Despite a serious downturn in the wild fur market as of late, the most recent Fur Harvesters Auction Inc. fur sale posted some pretty encouraging results.  Fur prices were still pretty low for some species, but others were impressive.  Beaver averages were pretty low.  Some raccoons did okay, while others didn’t sell at all.  Muskrat prices were very impressive, averaging almost $7.50!  Coyote and red fox actually sold pretty well.

You can see all of the fur sale results by clicking here.

Remember, this was a relatively small auction featuring mostly high quality northern furs.  Still, it indicates to me that fur prices may be on their way to recovery.

The next FHA sale will be held on February 19th, followed by the big NAFA sale in March.  It will be interesting to see what the future holds for wild fur prices.

December 18, 2009
Dear Wild Fur Producers
Some of you may be wondering why NAFA chose to cancel its January 2010 sale. No doubt it’s a highly unusual thing for an auction company that is owned by producers to do! The short answer is that we believe it is the right thing to do for all trappers.
Let’s start off by saying what everybody already knows—NAFA’s March sale is the wild fur sale
of the season. It is the biggest, most complete offering of North American wild fur anywhere.
It’s where buyers believe price levels for wild fur are set. It’s the sale that no buyer can afford to
miss and it’s the sale that we believe can potentially turn things around for wild fur this year.
We are confident that there will be 400–500 buyers at our March sale.
Let’s also say what should not have to be said, that no other company has invested the money,
energy and commitment into wild fur promotion that NAFA has. Just compare what our team of
ten international promotion agents have been doing for the past six months:
• Three weeks of Studio NAFA Wild Fur workshops in China teaching Chinese manufacturers how to cut, sew and design with wild fur in
October and November
• Ensuring designers in New York, Russia, China, Italy and France will include wild fur in their Fall/Winter collections for 2010
• Planning and creating a Northern Lights wild fur garment collection that will be manufactured and distributed in Chinese retail stores this fall exclusively in wild fur. The first prototypes will be displayed for orders during the Beijing and Hong Kong Fairs in January and February, in time for people to take orders before our March sale
• Planning and creating a collection of wild fur accessories and garments exclusively designed by young people for young people in retail stores around the world. These samples will be on display during the Milan Fair and in the February designer collections before our March Auction.
NORTH AMERICAN FUR AUCTIONS
These past few months we have been working hard to make sure that the promotional programs we designed would lead to direct buying support from the trade. Given the past year, that was a job in itself. After working hard to make sure that buyers would come to our March wild fur sale, we wanted to be sure that they would find as much product as possible, put up in a way that would make it easy for them to buy. We wanted as many of our trappers to benefit from what we hope will be a turnaround, and we wanted to send a positive message to the trade that wild fur continues to be a very important part of a successful fur industry.
Now some people may be disappointed they didn’t get to sell a few skins early in January, and some may end up disappointed later that they did sell early in January. No one can guarantee what the market will do. But as experts who believe in wild fur, we thought it was time to do something different to benefit our trappers and wild fur.
Making a decision, maybe an unpopular one for some, is what leaders have to do. Lee Iacocca said
it best. “Lead, follow or get out of the way.” We will all know soon if our decision was the right one, but we believe that making any decision that might help our trappers is better than blindly
following tradition.
Good luck to all of us in the upcoming season.
Sincerely
Michael Mengar
President and CEO
North American Fur Auctions

Let’s hope the strategy works and fur prices rise in March!

I’m far from being an expert in the fur market, but I’ll do my best to provide a short summary of the state of the market and point you to the real experts who know what’s going on.

Even the experts are having some difficulty predicting what the fur market will do this year, but the general consensus appears to be that the market has hit its bottom and just needs time to recover.  Most seem to believe that recovery will take a couple of years, with depressed prices continuing throughout this season.  Much of this is due to the low point the economy, combined with large inventories of unsold fur at the auction houses.

Holding Steady

Fisher, marten and muskrat pelts will likely move at relatively good price levels this season.  Fisher and marten are specialty items that don’t usually suffer as much as high volume furs, and muskrat is a cheap alternative to ranched mink.  The recovering Chinese economy should help keep the muskrat market steady.

Depressed

Bobcat, wild mink and beaver prices will likely sell at depressed levels compared to past years.  Many experts see cats selling at less than half the prices offered two years ago.  Increases in ranched mink prices may help wild mink, and a reduction in the beaver harvest could help sales.

Tanked

Coyote and raccoon prices seem to be in real rough shape.  There are large quantities of unsold goods out there that need to be cleared before prices can stabilize.  This can turn around pretty quickly if a cold winter and/or economic recovery help increase Russia’s consumption of fur.

Well, that’s my take on the fur market based on what I’ve read.  You can read the most recent reports from the experts below:

NAFA’s 2010 Wild Fur Forecast

Fur Harvesters Auction 2009-10 Fur Forecast

Parker Dozhier’s T&PC Fur Market Report