Leather industry plan on the way for Uruguay
05/10/2011
In the 1980s, according to a senior official at the industry ministry, Sebastián Torres, Uruguay had between 15,000 and 20,000 tannery workers, but the total today is around 5,000. The views of these remaining workers, as well as the tannery owners, will form part of a dialogue with the government.
Mr Torres has told local media that the government already has a series of suggestions to make and a blueprint for the future of the leather sector, but wants to include views from the frontline in the discussion. He said the industry had until mid-October to present its views.
After that, the government will reveal its plan, and Mr Torres did not rule out the possibility of a government subsidy for leather being part of it.
The national leather plan will consist of one part devoted to footwear and leathergoods production and one devoted to the tanning sector.
According to Mr Torres, the footwear plan will address the trade imbalance Uruguay's shoe manufacturers face. Together they will produce around one million pairs in 2011. But against that, a record 18.5 million pairs is expected to come into the country from other manufacturing countries, particularly China. The figure for 2010 was 14.2 million pairs and this, too, was a record.
For the tanning sector, he said part of the plan would focus on raw material, with a possible ban on "certain types of hide" possibly facing an export ban before going through the tanning process.
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