Summer 2008 Fur Market Report
July 20, 2008
I’m a little late in reporting, but it’s about time for another fur market update.
The final wild fur sales at the major auction houses took place in May. Both NAFA and FHA reported excellent results, and it looks like the fur market is right on track for the upcoming trapping season. NAFA sold 100% of most items, many at stellar prices, and FHA reported that this was its most successful May auction in recorded history! Great news, since prices are not expected to fall anytime soon.
Raccoon maintained the high levels reached during earlier auctions, averaging over $25 in many areas. This is a huge improvement from prior years, with strong demand and a small harvest due to winter conditions bringing prices up.
Coyote did not sell 100%, but good prices ($20-30) were paid for top quality items. Coyote prices may drop a little this coming season since some inventory has been carried over.
Beaver continued to sell well, and at prices similar to years past. This item seems to be creeping up slowly in price recently, but I wouldn’t expect to see huge price increases for beaver.
Bobcat and Lynx continue to bring exceptional prices and seem to be breaking records at every auction. A number of western bobcats sold at over $1,000 each this spring, and top quality items averaged over $500. Lynx averaged over $200.
Marten and fisher also commanded sky-high prices, with marten averaging around $100 overall, and fisher going at $65-75.
Grey fox moved a bit slower than expected, but NAFA remains optimistic about this item.
Muskrat seems to have finally stabilized, and sold well at around $3-4, with expectations of possible increases. Mink prices did not change much from previous auctions.
Otter and red fox continue to sell at lower prices than in past years. Other items sold well, at or near the 100% level.
Overall, fur prices continue to look good for trappers in 2008.
See the NAFA May 2008 Wild Fur Sale results here
See the FHA May Sale results here
Successful March Auction Results in High Fur Prices
March 30, 2008
Results are in from the North American Fur Auctions‘ March sale, and fur prices have risen beyond the expectations of even the most enthusiastic forecasts. NAFA called their March sale “the best wild fur sale in recent memory”. Many items reached new highs and experts are predicting that many of these prices will hold around current levels for the rest of the season.
Big winners in the sale were raccoon, marten, fisher and mink. Beaver, otter and muskrat performed better than expected as well.
Raccoon sold at levels much higher than expected, which was probably related to the smaller than normal offering of the item due to poor trapping conditions and higher gas prices. Most coons averaged between $20-30, with select items averaging over $35.
Marten and fisher both reached very high levels, with marten averaging over $100 overall and fisher breaking an $85 average.
Mink and beaver both experienced higher price levels as well. The increase in wild mink prices likely reflected the recent highs in the ranch mink market.
NAFA decided to unload their muskrat and otter collections with no price limits, which caused concern for many fur sellers who expected these items to sell at rock bottom prices. Fortunately, however, these items were met with enthusiasm from buyers and sold at levels better than at prior auctions. Otter (upwards of $40) is still selling much lower than in years past, but many sellers were just happy to get rid of these items. Muskrat probably won’t reach the $8-9 highs we saw a year ago, but at $3-4, ‘rats are certainly still worth targeting.
NAFA believes that prices from this auction should be maintained throughout the rest of the fur season, which is very encouraging, to say the least. High price levels will likely send more trappers out in the field, but high operating costs still make it difficult to devote a large amount of resources to catching fur.
See the NAFA March auction results here.
Fur Harvesters Auction February 18 sale results were also very encouraging. See the FHA auction results here.
January Fur Auction Results Are In
January 12, 2008
North American Fur Auctions and Fur Harvesters Auctions both recently held their January sales, and with the exception of raccoon, fur prices are generally average to slightly below average.
Raccoon was the only item that really looked good in both auctions, generally averaging over $20, and selling at around 100%. The supply of raccoons is short and demand is high. I would guess that raccoons will sell at equal or higher levels in the spring sales.
Beaver sold at similar prices to last year, averaging around $20.
Muskrats continue to be a real dissapointment. After selling at very high levels early last year and crashing in the March sales, this item remains partially unsold and at very low levels, somewhere around less than half of last year’s prices. Prices averaged around $2.50-$3.50 apiece. With only about 50% of muskrats sold, NAFA plans to sell all of its muskrat inventory during the March auction with no reserve prices. This means that if demand doesn’t increase soon, these ‘rats could sell at extremely low levels, being a great dissapointment for many trappers, myself included.
Coyotes continued to average similar to levels in previous years, but lower than last year’s prices.
Fisher sold very well at FHA, and marten sold at lower prices than before, but demand remains strong.
Most other items have not experienced much change and continue to sell at expected prices. Otters remain a dissapointment due to lack of a strong Chinese market.
While many of these prices may be a dissapointment to those expecting higher fur values, changes haven’t been too significant, and many of the prices that have come down aren’t much lower than what they were 5 or 6 years ago. So sell your ‘coons while they’re hot, and you might want to hold on to those muskrat pelts or find another use for them. But by all means, keep on trapping!
See the links below for auction results.
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