US hide exports: downward pattern continues
Official figures that the Leather and Hide Council of America has shared indicate exports of 21.4 million hides in the first nine months of 2023, with a total export value of $841.1 million.
These numbers mean falls of 7.6% in volume and of 13.6% in value compared to the same months in 2022.
Over the nine-month period, packers and traders shipped 18.7 million wet-salted hides from the US, bringing in $576.2 million, down by 8% in volume and by 13% in value year on year.
For wet blue, packers, traders and tanners exported 2.75 million hides during the January-September period this year, earning export revenues of $264.9 million. This means wet blue exports were down by 7% in volume and by 15% in value.
One piece of positive news was that shipments of wet-salted hides to China have risen in 2023, increasing by 9% in volume to exceed 12.5 million hides, and by 2% in value to reach almost $375 million.
For wet blue, while tanners in Italy remain the US industry’s biggest buyers of these hides, the volume has fallen by 27% this year, reaching 680,435 pieces by the end of September. Italian importers paid a combined total of 77.1 million for this material, down by 17% year on year.
