Market Report 17.01.2025

What happened this week

Frankly, there is very little for us to report on the market this week. The reason is probably very simple and obvious, as everything in Germany is currently centred around the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. What was initially just a suspicion last Friday quickly became a certainty. How a small herd of buffalo in the Berlin region actually became infected with the virus will certainly require a very detailed investigation and clarification. There are many rumours and one can only hope that there is a real willingness to investigate the origin of the virus. For the time being, however, this does not matter for our business, because with the confirmation of the infection, Germany also loses its status as a country free of foot-and-mouth disease. However, this is an essential condition for most health certificates for export to countries outside the EU. This means that Germany is currently subject to a de facto export ban for most animal by-products, including hides and skins. Fortunately, there have been no further confirmed cases to date and there is therefore justified hope that the spread of the disease has been prevented. However, it is still too early to say for sure. Fortunately, the transport of animal by-products within the EU is only prohibited for products that come from the direct restricted zone. This means that the transport and delivery of hides and skins within the EU is not restricted from Germany. However, the not insignificant proportion of exports to countries outside the EU, and China in particular, must be expected to have an impact on the market. However, the theory that prices would collapse as a result cannot really be justified. There are still other uses and there is also the market in Europe. As the entire market is currently in a phase of upheaval anyway, the small and localised problem in Germany is of no real central importance for the general market development. Regardless of what happens in Germany, the real factor influencing market development is the demand for leather in combination with the opportunities in alternative markets. As people in Asia are now preparing for the festive season, customers are really only interested in what happens to their current contracts and not very much in what might happen to prices on the German market. There have been no new sales this week, at least for us, so there is nothing to report.