US Perspective - 03.09.19
03/09/2019
www.themaxfieldreport.com
Members of the big packer trade in the US report no real change in the overall situation. The few bids offered see buyers continuing to bid prices lower than the last reported trading levels.
As top business this week, we are not aware of any of packers laying claims to decent business last week, only of some “courtesy” business. The numbers sold are nowhere close to allowing packers to clear their harvest.
Reports from members of the trade in Asia are no different as sources continue to talk about a general lack of interest and enthusiasm from tanners, duplicating what we have seen in the past two or three weeks. Many tanners blame the ongoing trade war between the US and China and all of the uncertainty surrounding it.
The spurt of interest we saw from tanners for big packer hides from the end of May until the end of July appears to have been short-lived; follow-up interest from tanners since this time has been lacklustre. Pundits claim tanners were viewing this as a buying opportunity to load-up on some of the best hides of the year at affordable prices. However, what we found interesting was how willing tanners were to take delivery of these purchases, making us believe that it is more likely that tanners saw a spurt of business, as opposed to speculating on the market.
As to leather business now, sources claim reports from the shoe trade are mixed, as the claim from most tanners is that business is not exhibiting any signs of improving versus levels of a year ago, while we have heard that some of the larger, well-known tanners appear as if they are doing okay (far from being busy), but certainly not complaining their business is poor.
Meanwhile, reports from the upholstery trade are also mixed, as it appears furniture business is falling short of expectations, especially low-end business, while automotive tanners appear as if they have slowed down slightly compared to levels in the first half of this year, which most pundits attribute to poor auto sales in various countries around the globe.
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