According to the China Leather Industries Association (CLIA), during the period January to March 2003, the country’s imports and exports of leather and leather products continued to grow. The greatest growth was seen in China’s import market. For the period, leather exports increased 25.2% to $3.26 billion, compared with 2002, accounting for 3.8% of China’s total export value.

The top ten leather and raw materials importers (excluding fur) were Hong Kong (accounting for 58% of the total export value), South Korea (9.3%), Italy (7.6%), Taiwan (7.0%), Spain (4.7%), Vietnam (2.4%), the US (2.3%), Thailand (1.4%), Singapore (1.3%) and Indonesia (1.2%). The import value of the latter countries accounted for 95.2% of the total.

The top five export markets were Taiwan (accounting for 16.5% of the total export value), the US (16.0%), South Korea (15.7%), Italy (7.8%) and Australia (7.5%).

Exports of leather & leather goods (January - March, 2003)

All figures x$1,000

Item	Unit	Jan.-March, 2003		Jan.-March, 2002		% (value)
		quantity	value	quantity	value
leather shoes	10,000 pairs	24,298	1,170,319	19,690	937,186	24.9
leather case			1,069,339		907,409	17.8
leather garments	10,000 pieces	988	383,514	733	254,589	50.6
fur garments	ton	318	22,571	311	14,068	60.4
Raw hides (excluding fur)	1,000 ton	32	70,962	22	83,064	-14.6
leather	1,000 ton	16	147,905	12	Share this story: Leatherbiz.com cannot be held responsible for content if the language setting is changed from English. The translations provided by Google Translate are automated and therefore might not be accurate and may contain incorrect, offensive or misleading language. We offer this facility as a guide only.