What happened this week: This week was a bit better than last and some activity was seen. Anyway, it could not have got any worse after the previous week which was completely dead. Tanners are not happily buying at present price levels but those who need to fill some production gaps can’t wait or don’t want to run the risk of not getting the product they are looking for. This is at least confirming that many tanners don’t dispose of large inventories they can stretch much. So, sales were patchy but down the list of products and all categories got their share. Dairy cows, heifers and some bulls moved at levels slightly below the market. Most of the sales had their destination in Asia again. In Europe some of the regular programmes for bulls had been renewed where moderate gains were achieved. In addition, the regular products are not of interest for lower grade material. This came in particular from China and from side leather tanners. The price targets are quite low but, with some specific products and price concessions, a decent volume of product was placed to various destinations. We have already mentioned several times that the leathers seen at the last Bologna leather fair let us hope for this development. It seems that the fashion trends have been accepted by shoe manufacturers and retailers and they are finding their way into production now. Garment leather seems also to be having some comeback in the medium price market section. Many reports and the interest we have seen indicate that the interest for average quality nappa skins could pick up. Customers are still mentioning unacceptable price levels but we hope that eventually our targets could be achieved. This would be necessary to move some of this product eventually. The rest of the market seems still to be completely dormant or in expectation of the coming various leather fairs. Upholstery leathers in particular need clearer directions for the following season. Despite the few sales made to China this week again, we remain concerned about increasing slowdowns of incoming letter of credits from this destination. The ends do not really meet looking at sales and shipping schedules. Since we are at the low season one does not yet have to be too worried but if things don’t improve over the next weeks it definitely won’t be good news. The kill: Slightly increasing. The peak holiday season in our area is over and most reports expect increasing slaughter over the next weeks. We suppose it could be a bit delayed for cows because favourable weather conditions should keep farmers away from selling their animals. What do we expect? Next week we should see a bit more activity from Europe again. In Asia we have to wait to see what people travelling before the Shanghai leather fair are going to report. Their sentiments, plus the results of the fair itself should finally give us a better indication for the short-term trend. We can still hardly find any reason why we should leave the narrow trading band we have been seeing now for a while. Finally, the coming weeks should deliver new trends, if any. A bit more excitement would be nice.
|
Type |
Weight range |
Avg. green weight |
Salted weight |
Avg. weight salted |
Price per kg green weight |
Trend |
|
Ox/heifers |
15/24,5 kg |
22,0/23,5 kg |
13/22 kg |
20/21 kg |
€ 1,55 |
Steady |
|
|
25/29,5 kg |
27,5/28,5 kg |
22/27 kg |
25/26 kg |
€ 1,40 |
Steady |
|
Dairy cows |
15/24,5 kg |
22,5/23,5 kg |
13/22 kg |
20/21 kg |
€ 1,50 |
Steady |
|
|
25/29,5 kg |
27,5/28,5 kg |
22/27 kg |
25/26 kg |
€ 1,40 |
Steady |
|
|
30/+ kg |
33,5/35,5 kg |
27/+ kg |
29/31 kg |
€ 1,25 |
Steady |
|
Bulls |
25/29,5 kg |
27,5/28,5 kg |
22/ 27 kg |
25/26 kg |
€ 1,50 |
Steady |
|
|
30/39,5 kg |
36,0/37,0 kg |
24/34 kg |
31/33 kg |
€ 1,45 |
Steady |
|
|
40/+ kg |
45,0/48,0 kg |
34/+ kg |
38/40 kg |
€ 1,38 |
Steady |
|
|
