COTANCE asks the EU to impose export restrictions on hides and skins
22/02/2013
COTANCE’s council met in Brussels on February 18. A review of the industry said sectors such as high-end fashion and automotive are doing well, while others, such as furniture, are experiencing a reduction in the demand for leather.
“The most recurrent complaint among all delegates,” the organisation said in a statement after the event, “was the worsening of the market conditions for the supply of the industry’s raw materials and the consequent price peaks in certain types of hides and skins.” It said that, paradoxically, calfskins have become more expensive than meat.
According to COTANCE, the shortage of raw materials in the European market is because of export restrictions put in place by countries such as Argentina, Brazil, India and Pakistan, and because too many European hides and skins are being exported to tanners in other parts of the world. “The issue is well known to European authorities,” the statement continued.
COTANCE called on trade authorities in the European Union to “use all available instruments to redress this critical situation including the use of export restrictions”. It said thousands of jobs were at risk.
In the same statement, it said tanners in the EU were also under pressure because of how difficult it is for many of them to obtain credit from banks. It said Europe’s leather industry needs “official support” to obtain fairer credit conditions.
Share this story:
