7 June 2024
Lloyd Phillips
The South African mohair farmer who holds the world record for the highest price achieved at a public auction fell just R5/kg short of repeating the price on Tuesday.
South Africa’s seventh and final mohair auction of the summer season in Port Elizabeth ended on a high note on Tuesday, June 4. FEC Farming from Willowmore achieved a new summer season record price of R1 046/kg for a bale of BSFFK super style kid mohair of 23 microns.
This was just R6/kg short of surpassing the world record price of R1 051/kg paid for mohair at a public auction. This record, set last year in Port Elizabeth, is also held by FEC Farming. In both cases, the buyer was Vitale Barberis Canonico (VBC), an Italian manufacturer of luxury woven goods.
According to Mohair South Africa’s market report on Tuesday’s auction, the average market indicator was 2% lower since the previous auction at R384,21/kg. Prices across all categories fell – kid mohair by 2%, young goat mohair by 3%, fine adult mohair by 2% and strong adult mohair by 1%.
A total of 98% of the 164 372 kg of mohair offered was sold.
“The offering consisted of excellent individual clips which elicited good competition among the buying houses, especially in the finer segments of the market. RMS-certified mohair comprised 90% of the offering,” according to OVK’s report.
“The highest OVK lot price at the auction was a bale of BSFFK mohair sold at R810/kg. The farmers in this lot were PS Hayward and A Jordaan. The buyer was VBC.”
According to House of Fibre’s report on Tuesday’s auction, three lots of mohair were the highlights of the auction.
House of Fibre’s best price was R950/kg for a bale of super style mohair of 23.7 microns produced by Schalk and Andreas Nel of Slater Nel Bpk from Steytlerville in the Eastern Cape. The second highest price was R920/kg for a bale of B-length super style mohair of 25,1 microns produced by Paul Michau of Cradock.
“We must also congratulate the House of Fibre team on the best price yet for a box bale, namely R900/kg. This bale was bought by VBC.”
The average price for the summer season was R390,14/kg, which is 4% higher than the average price in the 2023 summer season.
The first auction of the 2024 winter season will take place on 20 August.
