Of the offer of 43 117 Swakara pelts, 100% were sold at an auction in Copenhagen, Denmark on 6 September 2004. An average price of 153.90 Danish Hrone (DKK) was attained, representing an increase of 5.44 % compared with the DKK 145.84 achieved in June 2004. The average price in Namibia Dollar of N$ 165.85 reflects an increase of 6.79% compared with the N$ 155.31 of the previous auction. The offer consisted of 37 063 black, 1 563 white, 3 148 grey and 1 343 miscellaneous pelts.

The pelt price in American Dollar increased by 5.99%. The average price in June 2004 was US$ 23.54 compared with the US$ 24,95 of this auction. The exchange rate was again in our favour and contributed about 1% to the increase in Namibia Dollar.

The highest price of N$ 409.49 (DKK 380) was paid for a lot of 56 D Select Super pelts and was bought by Demelius Design GhbH from Switzerland. The highest price in June 2004 was N$ 383.36.

DKK 380 was the highest price ever paid for Swakara pelts. In 2001 the price was however higher in Namibia Dollar (N$ 415) on account of the more favpurable exchange rate.

The pelts were purchased by 22 buyers and most pelts were purchased by the London agents. Buyers from Japan, Hong Kong, USA, Italy, Greece and Switzerland also actively participated in the auction in order to get pelts.

The Agra Pelt Centre’s pre-auction evaluation showed an increase of 5% in curl-type pelts and 4% in overgrown types, whereas the number of selected quality increased by 3%. This agrees with the largest increase in price of the top lots and select quality pelts, but unfortunately these were also the grades with the lowest number of pelts. The small number per auction was discussed by several buyers, and the Centre hopes that this price increase will again increase the numbers on offer.