A major of the world's population of alpacas are in Peru, Chile and Bolivia. The world market has been expanding dramatically and today one can find herds in Australia, Europe, Canada, and even South Africa and some Asian countries. In the U.S. we have alpaca ranches in every state and the national herd is growing every year. By July 2000, there were 29,856 registered alpacas and the number of owners has grown from 146 in 1991, to 2,919 in 2000. It is now reported that there are over 140,000 registered alpacas and in excess of 4,000 breeders. The scarcity of alpacas is based on their slow rate of reproduction. Usually females give birth to one baby at a time with a gestation period of 11 months. Because of this slow reproductive rate, it will take a long time to drive the price of breeding stock down and top animals will always bring top dollars. Importation of alpacas from South America is difficult, expensive due to quarantine restrictions, and the Alpaca Registry has been closed to new imports since December 31, 1998. Unregistered alpacas are available, but their resale value is only consistent with pet quality pricing.
Fleece pricing, depending on color and quality, sells from $2 to $5 per ounce in the U.S., primarily to fiber artists, but certainly the fiber co-ops are viable destinations for clips as well. Each alpaca can produce five to eight pounds of fleece per year, enough for several sweaters. While selling stock is the main income and profit line in alpaca ranching today, the future profitability lies in their silky, durable, water-resistant and highly insulated fleece...high quality, luxurious fabric which is often used by top designers and design houses. The end products of alpaca fiber are expensive and rightly so as they can last a lifetime. A man's sweater, for example, can be made out of one pound of yarn worth about $40. It might cost $100 in labor to spin and weave or knit the sweater, and the sweater can be sold for $400. A top designer might charge in excess of $3,000 for a man's suit.
Alpaca stock prices are holding very well in today's market. A female can sell from $8,000 to $40,000....and more. At auction, the all time top selling herdsires recently sold for over $200,000, with a $25,000 to $85,000 range being more common for productive males. Only the best males are used and this policy is vastly improving the overall quality of the U.S. herd. Stud fees range from $1,000 to $5,000.
