Most players have already done their homework and everyone has done what had to be done for the year. There is little, if anything, to offer and consequently nothing left to negotiate and talk about. Fundamental interest remains intact and it is easy to see that many tanners are worrying about their raw material supply for the first half of 2007. The fact is, at least in Europe, that the slaughter is not going to increase and no buffers are available. With no sign of any slowdown in leather orders for the near future, everything is on a knife-edge. Buyers are desperately waiting for a chance to lower their raw material costs and wait eagerly for a surplus situation in the market as we saw recently for overweight bulls, but at the same time, any decline in slaughter would immediately create supply bottlenecks which could hardly be compensated by alternative origins, because most supply markets are in a similar situation.           

So, one can only hope that the Christmas break in Europe and the Lunar New Year holidays in Asia in February will slow production a bit, so that some of the immediate pressure can be lifted. For the moment we are seeing quite the reverse. While trading activity has calmed down, the shipping department is busier than ever because most clients are pushing hard for quick shipments, particularly from Asia and the Middle East. They want everything as soon as possible on the boat, either because their inventory is too low or so that they have the material before their seasonal shut down.

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