New blog entry on leatherbiz: Unintended consequences
09/04/2015
In his latest monthly column, entitled ‘Unintended consequences’, Mr Peters once again makes the point that growth in the automotive industry and high demand among automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) for leather in their car interiors will mean an increase in overall automotive leather demand that could equate to an extra one billion square-feet per year by 2020.
In the blog entry, which you can read in full here, Mr Peters explains that he has arrived at the figure by taking forecasts from specialist automotive consultancy group IHS and applying “proprietary leather conversion methodology” to them. This is not just about the numbers because an important factor is that IHS puts growth among premium car brands, who consume more leather than their mainstream counterparts, at a higher rate than that of the automotive market overall.
This leads the US-based leatherbiz columnist to suggest that, on top of the two billion square-feet of finished leather that OEMs are consuming at the moment, as much as almost 50% more may be required. He also suggests ways in which tanners can meet this increasing demand, including a change in strategy among companies producing only wet blue or wet white at the moment. A move by these players to begin making crust, at least, is what he describes as “the next frontier”.
The unintended consequence of this, giving the column its title, is that, with hide supply likely to remain flat between now and 2020, there will be less leather available for footwear manufacturers to use.
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