This week, too, there was no major breakthrough and customer activity remained manageable. Frankly, of course, there is also very little impetus that could lead to a significant revival in demand. Rather the opposite is the case, with more and more companies complaining about falling sales and rising stocks at the same time. Visible for all to see in large corporations that have to disclose these problems to their investors and the public at large. Maybe not everywhere, but in many cases a really dangerous situation is developing in Europe. Rising costs, rising stocks and at the same time falling revenues are now a relatively dangerous development. Fortunately, a large part of the European leather industry produces products with a high added value, so that so far the situation has not really left any deep marks, neither on the leather nor on the raw material market. This week, business with Asia picked up somewhat. This is probably not so much due to deep insights that came out of the Communist Party Congress in China, but rather due to the tanneries‘ need to adjust their supply to the Chinese New Year holidays. The break in China is, after all, much earlier this year and with the extended shipping times, good coordination is needed to ensure that both shipping space and transport times can be presented in such a way that the goods arrive on time accordingly. Of course, this is especially true for deliveries that are supposed to arrive in China before the interruption. In the meantime, there has been some talk about the fact that the order situation at the Chinese tanneries is increasing the risk of prolonged production closures. Similar fears are already being voiced in some places in Europe when it comes to the Christmas season. Here, it is not only a