What happened this week: A lot of last week’s enthusiasm proved to be false. The interest which had been seen in the previous week, and which was supposed to be carried over into this week, faded, and quite a number of bids and enquiries disappeared or were lost during the week. In most cases it was a price issue and when tanners thought twice about the price they wanted or were able to pay, they decided to walk away and bide their time for the moment. Consequently, sales were rather coincidental rather than the result of any coordinated and rational purchasing activity. Isolated orders and bids were available and concluded, but nothing in any volume. Tanners were buying for specific reasons and this was more gap-filling than a convincing programme of raw material procurement. The destinations were as coincidental as the sales themselves and so there was also no logic in the structure of the destinations or markets. All of the main markets participated a little, from Europe, the Middle East, through to the Far East. Almost all hide grades were covered, some cows, and some bulls and heifers as long as they were available.

Share this story: