Finished product manufacturers multiply the value of leather by 780%
28/03/2018
At a press conference in Hong Kong in March, CLIA vice secretary-general, Chen Zhanguang, said the sector generated revenues of just under $220 billion, an increase compared to 2016 of 3%. China’s main tanneries (those with sales of at least, roughly, $3 million) contributed more than $25 billion towards this total.
These figures mean that the work of manufacturers of shoes, bags, accessories, luggage, furniture, car interiors, gloves and other garments (and retailers) multiplies the value of the leather tanners produce by 780%. There is, arguably, a lesson here for countries that are enthusiastic about exporting raw hides and semi-processed and even finished leather. The economic benefits of converting the leather into finished products are huge, even in a year, such as 2017, when raw material and finished leather prices were relatively low.
Imports into China of leather and finished leather products, including shoes and handbags (CLIA has grouped them all together), also increased in 2017, rising by 10.7% to reach $9.8 billion.
The value of export revenues that tanners and finished leather product manufacturers brought into China in 2017 was $78.7 billion, Mr Chen said, an increase of 3.1% year on year. This represents just over 35% of the total, meaning that the Chinese leather sector generated 65% of its value in 2017 in the domestic market. From this, we can see that the value of the domestic leather market in China last year was more than $140 billion.
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