Hide exports fall by 54%
20/07/2009
Brazil’s hide exports brought in a total of $495.5 million in the first half of 2008, a reduction of 54% on the figure for the same period last year. The figures come from the Centre of Brazilian Tanning Industries (CICB) and include exports of raw, wet blue, crust and finished hides.
But the organisation pointed out that export sales for the month of June already suggested that things may be improving, with exports up by 6% in value and by 12% in volume compared to the figures for May.
Another positive point is that the hides Brazil did export in the first half of the year had higher levels of added value. Of the total number of hides, 74.2% of the total value and 57.5% of the volume were either crust or finished hides.
CICB president, Luiz Bittencourt, said on reporting the figures: “The international crisis is continuing to have a negative impact on Brazil’s leather exports.”
He went on to repeat a point that CICB has been making consistently in recent months, that the industry is also being hurt by high rates of tax, poor infrastructure, excessive bureaucracy and, especially, a lack of access to capital for tanners and other operators in the sector.
Mr Bittencourt said: “It’s essential that the government authorities start supporting the tanning sector, for example by creating new lines of credit.”
Share this story:
