What happened this week: It would need a fair bit of creativity to get any news worth mentioning out of this week. Activity was just a fraction better than in the weeks before and resulted in a few more hides being sold, so that at the end of the week an acceptable number of sales accumulated. Sales, however, were again patchy. Renewed programmes in Northern Europe, a few cows in Italy, some again going to traders, some bulls in Europe and on export markets, low grades and light weights – a bit of everything and nothing so pronounced that it would indicate any clear direction. The only thing missing – at least in our case – were significant order volumes from our regular customer base for dairy cows in Asia. This could be a case of them taking a wait and see position until the Shanghai Fair where all the usual suppliers plus some others will turn up at their front door. This is generally a situation that Chinese tanners like and it makes them more comfortable when it comes to bargaining and negotiations.

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