Friedrich Sturm Report - 09.03.07
What happened this week: The market and activity have now returned to normal. The financial markets have stabilised and the market in the Orient is also displaying normal activity again. So, for the time being, the price correction seems to have run its course. Not a lot has changed and the activity in
Apart from this, an outbreak of prices on the upside might also have a curing effect. One way or another, the balance of supply and demand eventually has to be achieved, and for the near future the pipeline will require a buffer of material that it doesn’t have at the moment. So, in the end, even with the little break we have seen, nothing fundamental has changed and there is little evidence for any short-term change at the moment. Leather demand and outlook is still positive enough to keep things clear for the moment.
The only remaining question mark hangs over the specialities. As far as sales for the week are concerned, one sells what is offered – providing it is not salted, extra heavy bull hides. The majority of interest was for dairy cows, low grades and light weight bulls and prices were entirely stable. Asking more fails, as does bidding down.
The slightly better exchange rate versus the $ has helped to wipe out some of the losses from the previous weeks. However, the price fluctuations are negligible anyway. Consequently, there was little to win and little to lose and so we all continue to wait for the next big market move. With the limited availability of material and the non-reaction from the market on bad news, it seems that tanners’ hopes for substantially lower prices in the short-term should be limited and one has to wonder whether the fair in
The kill: There was a short-lived upturn which quickly ran out of steam. Packers claim that there is enough interest for beef, but that there is little chance of buying enough cattle at the right price. This sounds a bit like the hides market.
What do we expect: We still cannot imagine what could free the market from its present position. The demand remains positive enough and, if tanners are really bought short, they will find it difficult to secure their needs. However, the slow performance of the upholstery market will not help us much right now.
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
€ 1.75
Steady
25/29.5 kg
27.5/28.5 kg
22/27 kg
25/26 kg
€ 1.60
Steady
Dairy cows
15/24.5 kg
22.5/23.5 kg
13/22 kg
20/21 kg
€ 1.65
Settled
25/29.5 kg
27.5/28.5 kg
22/27 kg
25/26 kg
€ 1.50
Settled
30/+ kg
33.5/35.5 kg
27/+ kg
29/31 kg
€ 1.36
Settled
Bulls
25/29.5 kg
27.5/28.5 kg
22/ 27 kg
25/26 kg
€ 1.70
Steady
30/39.5 kg
36.0/37.0 kg
24/34 kg
31/33 kg
€ 1.68
Steady
40/+ kg
45.0/48.0 kg
34/+ kg
38/40 kg
€ 1.55
Settled
Thirds
15/+ kg
25.0/27.5 kg
13/+ kg
24/26 kg
€ 1.25
Steady
Thirds bulls
30/+ kg
38.0/40.0 kg
24/+ kg
33/36 kg
€ 1.25
Steady
