What happened this week: The summer started early this year as general activity was once again reasonably quiet. It seems that business is turning more and more into holiday mode. The regular programmes with the European customers are proceeding on a steady basis, but any additional demand which would trigger some market action cannot be determined. Activity was also hindered by a holiday on Thursday in most parts of Germany.  So most activity this week came from abroad. The ups and downs of the $ made trading almost impossible at the beginning of the week while towards the end of the same a satisfying number of sales where generated. In the focus of interest again were dairy cows which sold in acceptable volumes. However, only a very lucky hand in the currency market made prices acceptable. Unfortunately, the attempt to reduce abattoir prices significantly for the month of June was unsuccessful. Various of the classic political games and the low kill again gave butchers the upper hand and consequently processing margins remained insufficient. Many did not take to the increasing costs due to lower production and after taking the lighter weights into consideration. The fight is now back on the selling side. Apart from the seasonal effects, the leather business would appear to be quite intact. However, one has to realise that tanners – at least for mainstream products - have become more and more flexible and buy hides increasingly in line with a target price system.

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