David Peters calls it: the hide market has crashed

02/07/2015

Leatherbiz columnist, David Peters, has said in his column for July that the international hide market has crashed. In the column, published in the Leatherbiz Blog section, Mr Peters, who runs the DLP Advisors consultancy, says the crash has been “an accident waiting to happen since February”, a time when hide prices were historically high, the shoe business was poor and winter hides were accumulating on the West Coast of the US as a result of the ports labour dispute.

This led to poor practice on the part of some supply chain partners, he says, with sellers delaying deliveries of long-held orders to chase the higher prices on offer for new orders and the tanners affected re-ordering from alternative sources without cancelling their original orders, resulting in over-buying by as much as 40%.

He argues that the time has come for an independent body to provide reassurance to buyers and sellers around the globe by giving a rating to tanners, traders and hide suppliers. “This is the role of an autonomous party,” he insists.

There is positive news too. Mr Peters says shoes are still selling, even if the leather content in many pairs is reduced. He adds that the popularity of leather among footwear manufacturers and brands may increase in the autumn as a result of cheaper finished leather prices. In addition, he says the bag, belt, auto and residential upholstery leather segments are all doing fine and enjoying the lower hide market. “Each sector is giving itself ‘high fives’ for improved profitability, although not fully admitting that the hide market is the major factor,” he says.

David Peters calls it: the hide market has crashed - leatherbiz: Leadi

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David Peters calls it: the hide market has crashed