30 JUNE 2016 – The global production of mink fur shows a dramatic drop of 25% this year. According to Kopenhagen Fur, one of world’s largest fur auction houses, the world production of mink plummeted from approximately 72 million mink in 2015 to around 52 million this year. China shows the greatest drop in production figures from 18 million to 8 million this year. Ever since the ‘Chinese fur bubble’ started to burst, which was at is peak in 2013 with an annual mink production in China of 40 million, the fur industry is losing ground worldwide.

The mink fur industry was hit hard in Eastern Europe as well, where production figures went down from 16 million in 2015 to 14 million this year. Holland accounts for the largest decline in production, according to Kopenhagen Fur.

The fur industry is an increasingly unstable industry against which numerous countries are legislating. Ethical and animal welfare concerns have caused fur bans to be subject of debate in an increasing number of EU members states. Fur bans are currently particularly high on the political agenda in Belgium, Germany and the Czech Republic. In February this year Dutch court decided to uphold the Dutch mink ban setting a strong precedent for the ethical case against fur farming. The Netherlands is the world’s fourth largest mink producing country with an annual production of around 6 million mink on 160 minks farms across the country.