US hides and leather industry reports a record 2014
11/02/2015
The industry’s transition towards an increasing proportion exported as wet blue is paying off: Exports of wet salted hides dropped 1.2% to $1.8 billion in value; exports of wet blue cattle hides jumped 21% to $959 million in value.
US pigskin exports dropped 4% in value to $54 million. The largest market continues to be Mexico, accounting for nearly half of exports.
“The US hides and skins industry continues to be a stalwart of agricultural exports,” said Stephen Sothmann, president of the US Hide, Skin and Leather Association (USHSLA). “However, if we wish to build on this success, we must look critically at our export infrastructure, especially our port operations.”
USHSLA estimates between $40-$45 million worth of hides, skins and wet blue products are transported via West Coast ports each week, which have all but halted as a result of the negotiations between the port operators and labour union.
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