Zimbabwean tanners hurt by wet blue shortage
The proliferation of wet blue producers in so-called 'Export Production Zones', which are exempt from export taxes, has led to a situation where a high proportion of Zimbabwe's wet blue output is now being lost from the country, the chairman of the country's Leather and Allied Industries Federation of Zimbabwe (LAIFEZ), Carlos Touguinha, has advised.
In an interview with the national press last week, Touguinha described how the industry was already suffering from raw material shortages, brought about by the land reform process.
However, the situation was being made considerably worse by the activities of the wet blue production sector, he said. Not only was it depriving the country of much needed foreign exchange, but it was also creating around only 20% of the jobs that would otherwise be provided by a full scale tannery.
The chairman of Imponente Tanning, Touguinha said the association had already secured the government’s agreement to introduce of a system of licensing, whereby the granting of an export license would be conditional upon the wet blue producer proving that at least 50% of its output was going to domestic leathermakers.
However, nothing had come out of the agreement, with the result that an estimated 60% of the material produced in the country continued to be exported, depriving the finished leather sector of around half its monthly requirement of 34,000 tonnes. Touguinha said that because of the shortages, tanners were now having difficulty fulfilling orders placed as long ago as November.
