This week: For the first time in a long time we can report last week as a week in which there was at least a significantly higher level of activity than we have become used to. However, the situation was different in some of the sales markets.

While almost everyone in Europe is depressed and worried about the spring and summer months, activity and interest in Asia was much higher last week and one almost had the feeling of the good old days. However, this should not give the impression of a great turnaround in market development and that everything that was rather depressed yesterday is now spreading sparkling optimism.

From China in particular, it was clear that the WeChat groups were determined to test prices in Europe last week to see how far sellers were willing to make concessions. Especially with cows, they were testing whether the price levels they knew from the covid-19 times could possibly be reached again. For cows from Europe, this is the magic mark of $20 per hide and, within a range of $2, all agents apparently had the task of checking every supplier. If the rumours are true, there have been one or two suppliers who have decided to make a few deals.

The weakness of the lime split market in China can be seen from the fact that higher weights are not a very big selling point. Buyers are are more focused on the better yields of the lighter goods. All in all, we have the feeling that substantial sales at up to $25 have been concluded.

The situation was much more difficult for the better-quality, heavier and therefore more expensive goods. Negotiations sometimes dragged on for the whole week, only to fail in the end. With prices beyond the $30 mark, not very many sales remained in the end. The bottom line is that, on the one hand, there is obviously a certain demand for raw material in China, but that these purchases are not necessarily covered by leather transactions and thus the price is in the foreground. Buyers there are obviously looking for the best opportunities to fill production and possibly have a secure starting point for leather price negotiations from the summer onwards.

The next few weeks will show whether there is really a sustained demand for raw material or whether they simply wanted to test the sales pressure from suppliers in Europe. In Europe itself, business was extremely quiet. This is not surprising, as everyone is waiting for the new prices at the slaughterhouses for May and only this week will they actually start talking about the price trends for the next month. There is really hardly any enthusiasm to be found anywhere.

The kill: The kill is down again very significantly. The meat business in the supermarkets is bad and we are now at the beginning of the low season in Europe. The relatively low temperatures of the last week did not help. By all accounts, the low slaughter levels will continue to change very little over the next few weeks.

What we expect: With the sudden awakening in China, the coming weeks will certainly be exciting. Low slaughter, weak leather demand, a weak US dollar, very subdued general outlook for the global economy and the approaching summer calm offer something for every view and opinion. Sellers will point emphatically to the low kill and tanners will point emphatically to the weak leather business. Both sides have good arguments and we therefore assume that prices will not change too much in the short term.

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