It will come as no surprise to hear that in a world of rising prices and high inflation, we now see a fall in the price of sable hair, albeit a rather small one! The fall comes on the back of unprecedented large increases over the last three years where we have seen increases of around 100 percent, meaning average prices of Chinese sable going from 4K to 10K, with some longer lengths of European dressed approaching $20K.
Unsurprisingly, demand has slackened as buyers look for alternative synthetics and sable mixtures, but certain applications still require the real thing. As mentioned,
prices have fallen but this is not only because of weak demand but because of the strength of the dollar against the RMB, and if you're buying in Euros (or worse Sterling) you won't notice much of a fall.
A further reason for not seeing steeper falls is that supply is still very limited, and it's unlikely that we'll see much change in fresh supply when the next season starts this winter.
Squirrel hair prices increased by about 20 percent (more in Euros) and shorter lengths 35-50 mm by even more as demand outstrips supply.
Most other types of fine hair have seen small increases as dressing factories close and wages increase.
The situation in Russia has had a limited impact as most supplies are not exported directly to Europe but to China.