Mexico’s tanners process two million more hides than its abattoirs produce
26/03/2014
CICUR president, Fabián Collazo, who is chief operating officer of León-based tanning group Lefarc, winner of the Highly Commended award for the Americas in the third programme of Tannery of the Year, said in recent comments to the media that automotive buyers are having a bigger say.
Mr Collazo said statistics suggest that Mexico’s tanneries process a combined total of 50,000 hides per day, with 42,000 of these passing through tanneries in Guanajuato. He said he estimates that 50% of Guanajuato’s total leather production may now be going to automotive, with 30% going to footwear and the remaining 20% to leathergoods and furniture.
“This is a situation that has been building up for the last two years,” he said. He added that this was affecting revenues in the tanning sector because automotive leather is shipped to companies in Mexico, whereas other articles are exported overseas, attracting higher prices.
The fact that Mexico’s tanners have to import raw material from the US makes the economic impact even greater, Fabián Collazo explained. “Mexico’s tanning industry processes more hides than the country produces,” he said. “According to government statistics, Mexico’s slaughter level in 2012 was 8.9 million head, which is two million fewer hides than our tanners are processing.”
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