Raw material investment indicates “positive expectations” for China
A break-down of figures shared by the China Leather Industry Association (CLIA) at the All China Leather Exhibition in Shanghai at the start of December shows that the country’s leather manufacturers produced 150 million square-metres of leather in the first six months of this year. Revenues for tanners over this period amounted to around $4 billion collectively.
CLIA chairman, Li Yuzhong, said this represented a decline of 5.1% in volume and of 3.5% in value year on year.
He said that tanners and traders in China had imported almost 750,000 tonnes of raw hides over the six-month period, which was up by 6.8% compared to the same period last year.
Chinese tanners also invested $520 million in semi-finished leather from overseas, bringing more than 300,000 tonnes of it into China over the period, increases of 17.4% in value and of 23.3% in volume.
Mr Li said that if investment in raw material was up, it was a reflection that companies have positive expectations about the future of the market.
He went on to say that key footwear enterprises in China brought in revenues of $36.5 billion, an increase of 6.9% year on year. Production of more than 1.3 billion pairs of leather shoes contributed to this.
Manufacturers exported 250 million pairs of leather shoes over the period, bringing in almost $3.75 billion. These figures represent falls of 10.8% in volume and of 13.3% in value.
Production of leather garments in the first half of 2024 generated revenues of $390 million, down by 2.3%, while bag manufacturers achieved revenues of $7.5 billion, up by 3.7%.
