Automotive portfolio ready to hit the road at GSC
Experienced leather and leather chemicals executive Daniela Matyk has completed a two-year project at Italian group GSC.
After two decades working for Stahl, Ms Matyk began working on a project at GSC in 2020 with the aim of helping the Italian group strengthen the team there that focuses on automotive leather and establish itself as “a trustworthy and reliable chemical partner for global automotive tanneries”.
Another former Stahl automotive leather executive, Mark Chatwood, will lead GSC’s automotive team.
Ms Matyk said it had been fun to be part of the creation of an automotive portfolio from scratch. She explained that the company already had a portfolio of products ready for the automotive leather market. She said this portfolio still contained a small number of products but that these fulfilled “all original equipment manufacturer (OEM) requirements”.
She pointed out, however, that the market situation was particularly challenging at the moment. “Ups and downs are normal and the leather trade was always cyclical,” she said. “The situation today though, is the most difficult I have ever seen.”
She explained that “safe havens” like the Chinese market have become unsure, that raw materials are under more pressure than ever before and that logistics costs are “crazy”, adding that the war in Ukraine and its effect on energy costs were making the situation even more difficult to navigate.
In the automotive segment, prices are usually agreed for fixed periods with interim cost increases rarely accepted. This means that tanneries are required to swallow most of the current surges in cost on their own.
On a more positive note, she said she viewed OEMs as being happier to use leather now than at certain times in the recent past.
