Market Report 23.08.2024

What happened this week

The holiday weeks in Europe slowly came to an end at the beginning of this week. Some of the offices in the leather factories were occupied again and this could be seen very quickly from the much more extensive communication. The first few days were mostly purely administrative and logistical questions and answers, but as the week progressed, people began to take a greater interest in the current conditions on the raw hide market. The number of enquiries increased without the feeling that there was a real need. As in many years, the weeks before the holidays and during the holiday period are very quiet and, especially in difficult times like the ones we are experiencing at the moment, you are very happy when you don’t have to worry about the problems and difficulties of sourcing hides. Of course, there is always the hope of buyers to cheaper prices on your return. In most cases, this has not been the case this year because the sellers and suppliers have simply not changed their prices. This was probably only due to the fact that there were hardly any or very few interested parties in the last few weeks and no more interest was expected from lower prices. Many tanners are now saying that most sellers have increased their asking prices somewhat. This is not particularly surprising, as we are now on the verge of travelling to Asia and then to the trade fair in Milan, and it is part of the usual routine to want to create a positive mood before the big meetings. Politics. With regard to the leather business, the response in terms of higher prices is not particularly positive. However, many buyers also realise that if they are not covered with their purchasing contracts until the fairs, they will have a difficult time reaching an agreement with the sellers, especially considering that the tanners are expecting lower prices. A completely different wind has been blowing from China this week and even though the number of enquiries has increased, the price ideas have decreased to the same extent. This applies in particular to female goods for the markets in northern China. In the case of male products, German hides are hardly competitive in Asia at the moment anyway. Due to the low kill this summer, the pressure to sell is somewhat lower, and sellers therefore feel that their position has been strengthened at the moment. However, it remains the case that the period up to mid-September offers hardly any real picture of market developments for the coming months. Prices have only changed very slightly for the few sales this week and the now significantly weaker US dollar does not make the calculation for export transactions any easier.