MINK

Denmark is one of the world's biggest producers of mink pelts. Annual production is more than 17 million (that's a lot of small-ish animals to be fed, reared and disposed of), and the industry employs some 6,000 people. It generates more than US$1 billion in export earnings, mainly to China. Indeed, mink pelts represent around a third of all Danish exports to China and Hong Kong

That demand has led to a sharp rise in prices in recent years, from around kr.330 per pelt in 2010 to a record kr.612 last year. Expectations were high when the annual auctions started in Copenhagen this week. So it was a bit of a shock to find prices hovering between kr.360 and kr.380 a pelt.

I suppose that even in China, there is a limit to the amount of dead rodent that can be worn. This week's developments will cause a shiver in the Danish mink industry.

Walter Blotscher