What happened this week: It was a week of mixed emotions. In general demand lost some of its steam and in particular the main driving forces of the past weeks, i.e. Asia and Italy changed down to a lower gear. Market activity and daily work, however, did not dry up completely and the demand for reasonably priced light weights remained very strong and the situation now is similar to how we finished before the summer holidays. Italy, India and China are still showing strong interest for these types of materials. This is good on the one hand as it confirms the solid performance and demand for leather to be used for leathergoods, handbags and shoe upper leathers. However, on the downside the supply base is becoming more and more limited. If this situation persists, tanners will eventually either have to change their raw material sources or discuss with clients as to whether they can use other, heavier and larger raw materials as well. Just looking back a year there was plenty of demand for the heavy end while the 15 kg down market was almost completely neglected. For standard items, many are busy analysing where the European market for bulls is heading. While there is a strong attempt to push the extra heavy end of the quality market even higher, many have started to question whether this is justified in light of the current leather business and whether this could run into a dead end eventually.

Share this story: