Currency rate the driver for Brazilian wet blue
22/01/2014
Confirmed figures for the first nine months of 2013 show that Brazilian tanners exported 25.8 million hides in the first three quarters of the year, an increase of 22.8% compared to the same period in 2012.
In 2013, 51.7% of the nine-month total left Brazil as wet blue, compared to 39.6% as finished leather. A year earier, wet blue’s share of the exports was 44.6%, while finished leather’s was 45%. In the same period in 2011, wet blue accounted for 35% of the total for the first nine months, while the proportion attributable to finished leather was almost 42.3%.
“In 2013, the leather sector registered a high demand for hides and skins,” José Fernando Bello said. “However, there are only two countries that [can] supply the international market: the United States, which produces 35 million hides annually, and Brazil, which produces 45 million hides a year. In this context, it is natural that large producers such as China and Italy depend on these two nations to supply their demands.”
He went on to say that tanners in China and Italy requested large volumes of wet blue in 2013 and that, in contrast to the situation in 2012, currency exchange rates made Brazil their preferred option, especially in the later part of the year.
A year ago, one Brazilian real was worth almost 50 US cents. Towards the end of August, the real’s value dropped to 40 cents. It is now worth around 42 cents.
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