2024 Fur Prices: Signs of Life in the Market

It’s not the fur market of a decade ago, but things are starting to look a lot better in the wild fur industry. Years of poor demand and low prices led to massive declines in fur production, and a bump in demand across the board has led to some much improved prices in recent months. The bifurcation in the market continues, with demand and prices highly variable depending on the item, but with an undertone of widespread increasing strength. We just finished the first major fur auction of the year at Fur Harvesters, and while not all species were hot sellers, the overall market prices and clearances were very encouraging!

Beaver – The demand for felt to make cowboy hats, fedoras and similar goods has continued to show its strength. Since beaver pelts are the primary ingredient in the felting process for high quality hats, and trapper harvest has been low for many years, beaver prices are shining again this year. Virtually all of the 45,000 beavers offered at the FHA sale were picked up by bidders, and prices averaged almost $31 per pelt! That includes the lower quality western and southern beaver, as well as smaller sizes. The top quality heavy Eastern blanket beavers averaged in the $50’s. This fashion trend might not last forever, but for now, it’s not a bad time to be a beaver trapper.

Castor prices were down from a year ago, as we predicted would happen as the beaver harvest increased. Averages ranged between $30-60/pound.

Otter – The strength in the otter market in the face of an increased quantity offered was one of the biggest surprises to me. Although almost 50% more otters were up for auction than a year ago, prices still increased, averaging about $33. Quality didn’t seem nearly as important as color, with the lighter colors meeting very strong demand, and many damaged lighter color pelts selling for more than the select darks.

Muskrat prices were weak, and clearance was low. A large number of the muskrats were holdovers from previous unsold auction lots. FHA held to some high valuations for these pelts, and the buyers just weren’t interested enough to bite. Less than a third of the muskrats offered actually sold, and those were mostly the lower end goods. They averaged about $2.

Some Red Fox moved at decent prices relative to recent auctions. 63% sold overall, with northerns and easterns bringing $16-17, and westerns and centrals at $7-9. Similar to the market for coyotes, fox needs a fashion trend to bring in some new demand.

Weak demand for Coyote pelts continues. 60% of coyote pelts sold, with Westerns bringing $26 and Easterns just $12. The 18k on offer is a far cry from the many tens of thousands that were market on an annual basis during the Canada Goose parka boom. Another trend come and gone.

The collection of Raccoon pelts cleared out nicely. This was encouraging after many years of poor prices and accumulating unsold goods. It seems that the huge backlog of raccoon pelts in cold storage is finally being worked through, and as trappers have been more selective about what they send to market, the quality on offer has improved. The best Western heavy raccoons brought almost $13, with Easterns and Canadians getting $7-8. Of the 12k or so available, 95% sold, which is encouraging moving forward.

The wild Mink sale was a crazy encouraging development. 100% of the 7k mink sold, and prices were more than double of what they brought in any mink auction in recent memory. Although it’s still a far cry from mink prices of old (but what isn’t these days?), they averaged $12-16. FHA stated that most of the demand for these mink came from Italian buyers, who I suspect were there to bid on the high quality offering of bobcats.

Bobcat prices soared in this auction. Western bobcat pelts reclaimed their legendary $500 average value after having languished through years at the sub $350 level. More encouraging, though, was the increased demand and sky high prices for the lower grades of bobcat, which have been valued at $30-60 for much of recent history. Northern and Canadian bobcats averaged $170-180 and the Central grades brought $73!

The small quantity of Badger on the market sold great, averaging $35.

Skunks sold for an average of $23. We’re in the best skunk market in recent memory.

Weasels averaged more than $5.

Marten and Fisher did extremely well, with average increases of nearly 50%. Fisher averaged $57 overall and marten sold for $59 overall.

Lynx averaged $140, wolverines $400, and wolves between $150 and $500.

The March 2024 Fur Harvesters Auction confirmed the increase in demand for wild fur overall, and allows us trappers to take a cautiously optimistic approach to the long badly depressed fur market we’ve been dealing with for years. The abundance of buyers from across the globe and active, competitive bidding throughout most of the auction made it feel like we’re in an actual market again. That doesn’t mean the fur market is out of the woods. We seem to be in the midst of a long term transition in the market, and I for one don’t think it will reclaim its former size and scope. A different market, but a market just the same. Kind of like trapping.