Another week has ended and nothing significant has changed. Trading drags along, trading from Friday to Friday without any real decisive changes or improvements. We are only in mid-June and thus the entire summer is still ahead of us. The problem remains demand and price, although for Europeans the problem is really only price. With the quality of the raw material we have, we would actually always be able to sell the entire production and thus get through the year without major problems. Once again, we have made the mistake of reacting too late and too little to the developing problems. This is playing the same game as always, downplaying the problems and hoping for the miracle that will solve the problems in the end. For the moment, however, the problems remain the same – essentially that prices at the slaughterhouses are still reacting too little and too late to the decline on the world markets. Of course, this never affects the entire production, but quite a number of hides remain unsold and thus hang like the famous sword of Damocles over the heads of the market. Even if the drums of the beamhouses of the leather industry still have to be filled until the summer holidays, on the other hand, the obvious stocks in semi-finished goods must give one cause for concern. Only a significant increase in leather demand can eventually clear this famous logjam in the production chain. In order to market the accumulating hides by that time, which is really unknown, price levels must finally be reached that are not limited to 70% of the quantity, but take the entire 100% into account in their synthesis. In the course of this week, interest in our region focused more on the conclusion of prices at the slaughterhouses than on the price level in sales. One

The kill

No further news on the kill. In the Catholic regions there was another public holiday this Thursday and therefore production was significantly reduced all over Germany. Life cattle prices for males have fallen 25 % since the highs. However, at the moment there is no sign that this could support the demand for prime cuts in any way. Only the holiday season and the catering industry and restaurants offer some hope for an improvement. However, the rising prices for energy and for food in general are already making themselves felt in a new price consciousness and limited consumption.