Vietnam has overtaken China in wet blue imports from the US
15/01/2020
Statistics for the first 11 months of 2019 show that Italy was still the biggest buyer of US wet blue, with volumes of just over 1 million wet blue hides and a value of $113.5 million.
And while China imported the second-highest volume, almost 940,000 pieces compared to Vietnam’s total for the 11 months of just under 900,000, Vietnam took second place in terms of value, spending $98.1 million on the material compared to China’s $96.3 million.
Italy’s figures show falls of 36% in volume and of 29% in value, while the declines for China are of 32% and 31% respectively. Vietnam on the other hand had growth of 14% in volume and of 20% in value. Global shipments of wet blue were 3.4 million, with revenues of $363.5 million, down by 23% and 20% respectively.
In a broader landscape of declines in sales of US hide exports last year (wet-salted hide exports reached 18.3 million in the first 11 months and brought in revenues of $700.3 million, down by 15% and 32% year on year) while cattle slaughter numbers have remained high, success in Vietnam may provide some solace.
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