What happened this week: The market this week started with some kind of a ‘big bang’. The news of the first outbreak of the bluetongue disease in Holland and the border regions of Belgium and Germany . Since the leather business has become pretty sensible to the outbreak of any kind of diseases there was at this time  a lot of hectic and excitement again.  However, at the end matters cooled off very quickly and by the end of this week it is hardly still an issue people are talking about. The critical question however still remaines unanswered.  How are the authorities in the export markets are  going to react eventually about the certificates issued from Europe .  Authorities cannot sign anymore health certificates which contain the phrase, that the exporting country is free for the last two years of the bluetongue disease. Since this is a disease pretty much spread around in Africa and Asia, is harmless to humans and can only be transferred by mosquitos from and to life animals there is little reason to restrict the movement of hide and skins.  In fact so far no authority in any country has restricted or banned the import of Northern European hides. As usual the trade is reacting pretty sensible and so were the first days of the week just

busy talking to customers and authorities how the present situation should be handled. By the end of the week most decisions have been taken and the final conclusion is, that the export health certificate is not going to contain the bluetongue disease anymore.  Since no importer has been advised by their local authorities, that the import of hides and skins is going to be restricted shipments were resumed quickly and run as per today almost normal again.  This applies in particular to direct business with tanners. Export traders are a bit more cautious and try to wait a few days more because they don't want to sit with material on the boat to find out, that they might not be able to clear them at the destination.  Consequently was business a bit slower at the beginning of the week and Asian customers were not really willing to negotiate business prior to the Shanghai fair and the settlement of the import question.  But with a general firm undertone in the market interest remained intact and there was no sign, that tanners can already stay out of the market and refrain from purchasing further raw material.  In Europe interest was significantly better. Due to the low kill in the South some buyers do not get what they planned and so they had

to shift some short-term interest to those origins where they can obtain enough supply. This was quite handy for us with a better kill and this kept the product flow well intact. Prices remained in their narrow frame. While the Asian buyers are not willing to lift their ideas and quite reverse try even to bid down have prices with the available customer base in Europe fractionally increased. However, overall the variations are neglectable. The kill: The kill continues to return to normal levels. In our area the holidays are already history and we are now entering the high season again. With the 7.7 % increase of slaughter in the first half of the year it is now going  to be interesting if the supply of live cattle will remain sufficient in the second half.  For the moment we think that the kill will remain normal and hope that weights are going to rise as they are still pretty low for the time of the year.  What do we expect: It is hard to expect, that next week should already bring the big change. Italy starts to return from the holidays and Asia is in preparation of the fair and visits of the suppliers. The week after might be of more indication and volatility. The market remains fundamentally in good shape but one fails to find still any argument for any strong move on either side and new major trends can hardly be determined yet.