This week: At the beginning of the new year, we would like to extend our best wishes to all readers and business partners for a successful, healthy and, above all, peaceful year in 2026.

Market activity during the past week was predictably subdued. The holiday period resulted in fewer transactions and overall restrained business activity. Nevertheless, considering the time of year, interest levels and inquiries were slightly higher than initially anticipated.

Following a very challenging year 2025, marked by generally declining prices and additional pressure on revenues owing to the weakness of the US dollar, the market is entering a highly uncertain new year. Geopolitical tensions, political decisions and the actions of individual government leaders continue to have a significant impact on global markets, making planning increasingly difficult for market participants.

Leather consumption has not yet shown a sustainable recovery in its traditional end-use sectors such as footwear, furniture, and automotive. Consequently, no major change in the overall supply-demand balance is expected in the short term.

Global protein production also remains relatively stable, suggesting that raw material and by-product availability is unlikely to tighten significantly in the coming months. At the same time, individual strategic decisions at company level are becoming increasingly important. In particular, the question remains how European tanneries will cope with the ongoing crisis and whether existing capacities can be maintained in full over the medium term.

Overseas, much will depend on economic developments and consumer sentiment in China, while the south Asian subcontinent continues to gain market share in leather production and processing. During the past week, inquiries from China and the south Asian subcontinent stood out in particular. However, price negotiations proved difficult. Especially from China, there was a clear impression that buyers were primarily searching for low-priced opportunities, hoping that some suppliers might be willing to make concessions during the holiday period.

As a result, actual business remained limited, although some transactions did take place. The main focus of demand once again lay on hides for the footwear industry.

Prices and currency conditions showed little movement, a situation that is likely to persist over the next one to two weeks. We now look to the start of the new year with great interest and hope that Chinese buyers will use their Lunar New Year holidays to engage more actively in business.

The kill: There is little to report on slaughter activity for the past week. Due to the very limited number of production days during the holiday period, slaughter volumes remained extremely low. Consequently, feedback and returns from slaughterhouses were minimal. Against this backdrop, the volume of the kill is currently of limited relevance. Greater attention will be placed on how slaughter levels and beef production develop in the first weeks of the new year and whether production activity returns to normal levels.

What we expect: We assume that the new year will start at a relatively slow pace. In Europe, there is a clear impression that many tanneries have already finalised their planning and requirements for the first weeks of the year, meaning that only limited activity is expected from this region. At the same time, uncertainty remains regarding the form and extent to which European tanneries will be able to maintain production and employment levels in the new year. As a result, attention is increasingly turning to overseas markets. It would not be surprising if Chinese customers in particular use the next two weeks to secure raw materials at favourable prices for production following the Chinese New Year (February 17). However, expectations for higher prices should remain tempered. Leather prices are still under pressure, and tanneries are unlikely to be able to push through price increases in the near term. In addition, buyers can still select from a relatively ample supply. Overall, we hope that available production volumes can be placed smoothly and that sales will not face any exceptional difficulties in the weeks ahead.

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