As you will all have noticed the price for possum fur has dropped to $110 /kg. Harvesters are always asking me when will the price go up, or I have been told it is going to go to $200/kg. There are some fundamentals that all harvesters need to understand and be aware of if they are going to get the best return for their efforts
The first one is that possum fur is a commodity just like wool,meat, raw milk,logs etc,and as such the price is governed  by supply and demand.For possum fur when demand is high and customers want your product then you have a market,if the supply of fur does not meet the demand then customers will offer more to secure their needs ,and the price goes up. On the negetive side when the amount of fur on offer is more than the customers require then the price goes down. this is the basic law of supply and demand. Ask any farmer ( all farmers are commodity producers) and they will tell you that unless you understand supply and demand, and conduct your business accordingly them you will not prosper in a free market.

The second thing that fur harvesters need to understand is that all commodities have a price point,which when exceeded makes that commodity to expensive for the customer ,and they will look for alternatives.
All of you who have been in the harvesting business for the last five years or so will remember how pleased they were when possum fur reached $145/kg,and I can remember many hunters telling me with firm conviction that it was  going to go to $200/kg.So why have prices dropped in the last couple of years, why are you not getting your $200/kg
The simple truth is that possum fur priced itself of the market. There is a whole chain of businesses that add value to possum fur the spinner,the knitter, the wholesaler and the retailer. All of them have to make some profit, or they would not be in business. At the end of this value adding process the finished goods have to purchased by the retail customer, if the goods are to expensive then the customer will look for better value for their money
The domestic market has understood this well for many years, it was international demand that drove the price to the highs we saw several years ago. International customers have now realized what the domestic market already understands, that there is a point at which possum fur becomes uneconomic
So all you hunters out their remember this when the price gets beyond what the market can tolerate there will always be a re bound in the other direction,this is the current situation now
In other word be careful what you wish for

Cheers
Steve

 

Hello to one and all
I hope that all of you have survived the wild weather we have had over the last week. I have had lots of conversations with hunters all over the country about how difficult it has been recently to get out on the hill. One of our hunters arrived at our base several days ago with a harrowing tale of fording wild rivers and traversing dangerous slips to get out of the bush, a little poetic licence I think. On a more serious note as all those who work in the field know possum hunting is very dependent on the weather, and I know that there will have been times over the last week or so that some of you my have found yourselves in genuinely hairy situations. We all know that this  goes with the territory, but take care we need you to keep catching possums

The market update this week remains similar to our last post. Demand is still weak and we expect it to remain so for the rest of the year. Things will change when demand from offshore picks up, but any movement in this regard is very dependent on the exchange rate. The stronger our currency is against the US dollar the more constrained export demand will be, lets hope the Americans can get their house in order and get their currency sorted.

The fur price seems to have settled down a bit in the last couple of weeks. The current price of $110/kg should remain the benchmark for the rest of the year. We are firmly of the opinion that any further pressure from markets to lower the price paid to hunters will have a very negative affect on the supply chain, and will continue make every effort to ensure that the price remains stable.
That's it for now ,please let us know your thoughts and issues in the coming weeks,you never know we may be able to
 help.
All the best
 Steve and Sue   

      

Hello Possum Hunters,
We hope that you like our new website specific to you, the hunters, who as we've always said are an important part of our organisation.
We understand that harvesting possum fibre and skins is hard work and we try to support you to the best of our ability; unfortunately we have no control over market forces - i.e. supply and demand and hence the price we can pay for fur and skins. The current price decreases for fur are a result of low demand - China is buying very little and our domestic customer can only buy what in turn they can sell as yarn - again dependent on demand for yarn.
Through this period we will support those hunters who over the past twelve months have supported Basically Bush. Thanks to those of you who support us and we look forward to improving fur markets.
Meanwhile we've had an awesome skin buying season, thanks to all of you who have attended workshops and supplied us with skins. The season is now coming to an end, so no more skins after the end of October please.
Talk to you again next week.
Sue & Steve