China changes suit Cartigliano

24/02/2016
Tanning machinery provider Cartigliano has said its business in China is growing in spite of consolidation in the leather industry there. There are now around 1,000 tanneries in operation across China; the number has fallen by nearly 45% in four years.

"Our sales are going up," said Cartigliano's area manager for China (and India), Marco Bidoggia, in conversation with World Leather at Tanning Tech 2016 in Milan in February. He explained that the company's way of doing business in China has changed.

"We're now selling to big groups rather than one machine to tannery A, another to tannery B and so on," he said. "There are fewer tanneries in China now, but those that are operating there are investing more in technology. The big groups understand about investing now for payback later."

He remarked particularly on the willingness of large tanning groups in China to invest now in his company's full drying line. The Cartigliano Line is a collection of carefully developed machines that tanners can run in sequence from the end of samm-setting to after staking.