Fur Price Forecast: No One Really Knows!

It’s a busy time of year.  Hunting and trapping seasons are in full swing in most areas, and many of us are finding little time to get on the computer in between work and time chasing critters in God’s great outdoors.

One of the biggest things on many trappers’ minds at the onset of this season is the price of furs.  While many of us trap for fun, fur prices do play a huge part in deciding where, what, when, and how much we’ll trap each season.

The fur price forecast for the upcoming season is probably about as uncertain as it’s been in recent history.  With the recent economic downturn, it’s hard to say what demand will be like in Russia, China, Greece and other fur consuming areas.

North American Fur Auctions recently released it’s Wild Fur Forecast for 2009, questioning whether last year’s record high fur prices could be maintained.  Expectations are high, but as NAFA president Herman Jansen states,

At this time we don’t really know and we will have to wait to see what happens in the retail markets of Russia and China. In both markets, retail spending up until now has been increasing, however, both markets have experienced losses in the stock market.

In addition to questions about the economic crisis, other factors are important in determining fur market performance.  NAFA points out that the weather in Russia and China should also play an important factor in fur sales.  Fur sales typically do better during more severe winters.

You can see the entire NAFA forecast here.

More recently, NAFA came out with a Wild Fur Market Update for November.  This one page summary basically stated that it’s still uncertain how the economic downturn will affect fur prices, and that weather in Russia and China over the next month should impact sales.

To sum it all up, nobody is really certain what will happen in the fur market in the coming months.  It looks like we’ll just have to wait and see.  One thing’s for certain, though – die hard trappers won’t be sitting at home waiting to hear about fur prices.  They’ll be out catching fur!