Russian fur auction company Sojuzpushnina held its 165th International Fur Auction in St. Petersburg from February 4 to 10, 2005. Upwards of 1 million wild and farm pelts were offered, a lot more than in any of the previous auctions.

Sojuzpushnina.s consistent effort to expand its client base brought about an exponential rise in audience numbers at the 165th fur auction. Out of 280 registered visitors, 180 customers from Russia, Italy, the UK, Germany, the US, China, Japan, Greece and other countries took part. At the auction last January, there were 220 registered visitors, including 140 customers from 14 nations.

This time, the auction featured an unusually large selection of wild sable pelts, which fully sold out amid turbulent bidder activity. Barguzinsky sable went for an average of US $85.83 per pelt. The prices of non-silvery sable pelts climbed an average of 30% from April 2004, while silvery sables went up 80%. All sable pelts fully sold out amid very active demand from key buyers. The highest-priced Barguzinsky sable lot was purchased by Tsoukas Bros. and Sons S.A. of Greece.

Of the 189,488 mink pelts offered, 65.2% were sold, mostly in the demi-buff, topaz, pearl and black cross. Most of the minks sold at the December 2004 price level.

Blue fox sold below the December 2004 level in line with the general market downturn for blue fox furs. Of the 36,490 blue fox pelts offered, 45% sold at between US $15.50 and 22.90 apiece. 30% of the 27,560 silvery fox pelts were sold. Shadow fox did better at the auction, selling 94% of the 4,027 pelts offered at US $22.79 to 43.33 apiece.

Muskrat, which premiered at the St. Petersburg auction this year, did surprisingly well, selling 41% of the 55,746 pelts offered at US $1.20 to 3.25 apiece.

See the "Auctions" section for more details on this year.s fur highlight.

Attention: the April auction has been rescheduled! The next International Fur Auction will be held in St. Petersburg from April 16 to 21, 2005 with selling on April 19th (starting 2:00 PM) and 21st.