This week: Overall, even less happened last week than in recent times. The weeks are following certain recurring stereotypes.

All we can say from China is that there is no real physical demand for raw materials at the moment, which is why people are less concerned with the question of whether they can buy goods, and more with how cheap these might be. This means that you don’t see a complete standstill in demand, but basically it doesn’t give the impression that people really intend to buy hides unless they are extremely cheap. We call this fishing in the doldrums, which means that it is less important what you catch, but rather that you catch something. However, it doesn’t seem that this is proving very successful at the moment and therefore not a lot of fish are being caught.

If there is any serious interest, it is usually in higher-quality raw materials and with very clearly defined specifications. Even then, it is also true that the asking prices are far from being realised and you then have to decide at what level you are prepared to sell hides. With the standard types, normal cowhides and lower grades, the bids you receive cannot really be considered serious. 

It is not foreseeable that the balance of power between buyers and sellers in northern China will improve in the near future. For the rest of the market, we are still waiting to see how things develop and, above all, what prices can be expected at the abattoirs in the coming months. This will not change the sales conditions much, but it will certainly change the calculation, the need to provide storage space and, of course, the expectations for prices for the coming months.

Some form of agreement will have to be reached with regular customers for fresh, chilled hides in Europe, as there is no real alternative until the summer holidays. However, if there is hope that people are waiting for an improvement, then this will certainly require a relatively high level of optimism. All in all, things were relatively quiet in Europe last week.

The kill: The slaughter in our region remains relatively normal. You can tell that farmers are busy with other things at the moment than selling and transporting their livestock. Therefore the supply for the slaughterhouses is rather tight at the moment, without this having anything to do with the demand for beef. June is also unlikely to bring any major change in the market situation.

What we expect: In principle, there is a lack of anything at the moment that could lead to a change in the weekly forecasts. We would need a significant general improvement in all types of leather demand and more optimism in the industry. One day it will be different again, but at the moment there is no real trigger for major market changes. Little is likely to change and, if anything, prices are likely to fall a little further.

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