What happened this week: As expected things were reasonably quiet – at least until Thursday. European buyers were mostly on the sidelines as many factors kept them from the market. Leather business in general is in its seasonal decline. Prices are in decent, what always let people believe they have to wait for the cheaper offer and many tanners have also already covered their needs until the summer holidays. In addition we are still in the process of abattoir buying and consequently everyone continues to wait for the levels which will be stipulated for the coming month. So, the market divided into those with courage and the others without. As quiet as it may have been, we believe, that at the end much more business was concluded than it looked like. At least in dairy cows and ox/heifers. Tanners with a bit more long term sight were teasing sellers where they got the impression, they might be a decent victim for bargain hunting and so bids of 10 % ore more below the market level were frequently heard.

In some cases they also found their victims and some deals - mainly in Italy – were concluded at low levels. This applies mainly for A bit different was the situation in Asia. Starting from Thursday morning the number of bids for dairy cows increased substantially. With the rollercoaster in the USD value timing became everything and when negotiations fitted - decent volumes were concluded at prices which were higher than their European equivalents. Unfortunately this applied only for the light and medium weights. Heavy weights did not find too much attraction yet in this part of the world. Not such a big problem with the rapidly falling avg. weights we always face at this time of the year. We feel, that still a lot of interest is carried over into the next week and  - considering the very low kill – we wonder when sellers will realize, that they might be sold decently forward. Business in bulls was quiet. This, however mainly due to the fact, that the long term contracts are not yet ready for renewal and only some interim sales were reported from people who find it

adequate to sell now, or don’t keep the time frames which are usually the basis of the trade. Apart from this we struggle with the holidays and the low kill more than with the market itself. The kill: No news. The kill remains very low and also the full production week did not offer too much relief. Slaughter remains low and with the summer holidays starting now soon, all the hopes for better kills are moved to September –December. For the moment and the next weeks it will remain slow. What do we expect?  The mood remains still pretty depressed. However, prices are starting to reach profitable levels. USD prices in the mid 40’s for dairy cows are attractive - as they always have been. Males may not yet have their found their base, but considering the low kill and the general improving outlook for the economies, it could also be, that things will soon also look better than today. With the holiday season in front of us the market concerns will - short term - still dominate, but the pressure is already easing and  the pessimism will fade eventually certainly related also to the end of the SARS problem in Asia.

Dairy cows

15/24,5 kg

22,5/23,5 kg

13/22 kg

20/21 kg

€ 1,80

Steady

25/29,5 kg

27,5/28,5 kg

22/27 kg

25/26 kg

€ 1,52

Steady

30/+      kg

33,5/35,5 kg

27/+   kg

29/31 kg

€ 1,28

Weaker