US Mink: State Of The Industry – 2011
This report by Fur Commission USA details the state of the fur industry at the end of the year, 2011. Production in the U.S. in 2010 was found to be generally on par with previous years. Globally, just over 50% of all farmed mink are reared in Denmark and China, which produced 15 million and 13.5 million pelts, respectively.
Report Highlights:
- “US mink farms produced 2.82 million pelts in 2010, down 2% from 2.86 million the year before, and at the same level as 2008.”
- “[T]he number of females bred to produce kits this year was up 5% from the previous year, at 701,000. If the same number of pelts per breeding is achieved this year as in 2010 (4.21), this will result in a total of 2.95 million pelts going to auction in 2012. This would make it the largest crop since 1997.”
- “That said, the world harvest this year is forecast at 54.13 million pelts, up 7.0% from the 50.58 million produced in 2010. This is still down a shade, however, from the all-time high of 55.79 million produced in 2007.”
- “Output for the world’s largest producer, Denmark, is forecast at 15 million this year, up 7.1%”
- “Other major producers are: China: 13.5 million, up 17.4%; the Netherlands: 4.9 million, up 1.0%; Poland: 4.9 million, up 15.3%; CSI/Baltic States: 4.8 million, up 1.0%; the US: 3.2 million, down 5.9%; Canada: 2.4 million, up 9.1%; Finland: 1.7 million, down 12.5%; and Sweden: 1 million, unchanged.”