The first sale the summer season kicked off in Port Elizabeth with a small amount of mixed mohair on offer. considerable amount of short hair was also offered, mainly due to the drought in the latter part of 2007. But Mohair SA said that good clean, quality hair and hair with good length achieved above-average prices. And although the market indicator was down from the corresponding sale of 2007, prices for kids’ and young goats’ hair were encouraging. The market indicator increased by 5% from the previous sale, with an 89% sale clearance, with good after-sales taking place following the official sale, making prospects for the remainder of the season positive. But according to Pierre van der Vyver of CMW, the first sale of a summer season with its erratic quality is never a good indicator for the rest of the season.
“Although it was disappointing that the weakening of the rand against most of the major currencies did not play a bigger role on the sale, fine kid mohair increased by nearly 8%, with adults and young goats unchanged. The exchange rate did help to absorb the downward pressure on adults for a variety of reasons, including the end of the fashion demand of the past three seasons. But we remain confident to forecast a substantial increase in price in the fine component of the clip during the coming season, the moment bigger quantities of quality mohair become available.” He added that the PureCape bins performed well, fetching the highest prices for most of the categories including a bale of 24 micron CSFFK which sold for R210,50/kg to Dewavrin Freres. All EGT-tested young goats sold for between R150/kg and R170/kg. But demand for E-lengths was limited because of the larger-than-normal offering of short, droughty mohair last season. – Roelof Bezuidenhout
