Pattern persists in leather industry performance in China
Analysis of the performance of China’s leather manufacturing sector shows that the pattern that has emerged so far in 2025 continued into August, the latest month for which figures are available.
Industry body, the China Leather Industry Association, presents the pattern as being a mid-single-digit percentage fall in the volume of raw hides and skins and of semi-finished leather that Chinese tanners have brought into the country. The fall in value of this material is, however, substantially higher year on year.
Figures for the first eight months of 2025 show that Chinese tanners imported 944,000 tonnes of raw hides and skins, paying $760 million for the material. These figures mean a fall of 5.1% in volume, but a decline of 17.1% in value.
This means that leather manufacturers in China have been paying an average of just over $800 for each tonne of raw hides and skins. This would equate to around $20 for a raw hide weighing 25 kilos.
The corresponding figures for the same period in 2024 suggest that, from January to August, tanners in China imported around 995,000 tonnes, with a value of $917 million.
This means they are paying less for raw hides and skins this year. The average value of one tonne of hides this year has fallen by 13%. And, in 2024, the January-August average cost to Chinese tanners of a raw hide weighing 25 kilos was $23.
In the first eight months of 2025, Chinese tanners also imported 394,000 tonnes of semi-finished leather, paying $580 million. This means a fall in volume compared to the same period in 2024 of 5.6% in volume and of 16.3% in value.
Over the same period, leathergoods and footwear manufacturers in China imported 25,000 tonnes of finished leather, with a value of $380 million. Here, the falls are of 16.1% in volume and of 18.1% in value.
