Successful March Auction Results in High Fur Prices

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.