Market Report 23.01.2026

What happened this week

Given the way developments have unfolded for quite some time now, the question increasingly arises as to whether it is still truly meaningful to provide a weekly market report, or whether the underlying reason is simply that fewer noteworthy developments are taking place. If one considers the daily exchange with colleagues at home and abroad, it appears that the overall situation looks broadly similar almost everywhere. Naturally, volumes differ, and the major players in the market operate on different levels than the smaller ones. There is no doubt that a structural shift also plays a significant role here, as it is evident that our smaller, more specialised customers tend to be the more active ones, while the larger players are more inclined to complain and give the impression that they are currently merely covering routine operations. Be that as it may, daily activity levels remained rather subdued again this week. At the same time, it can once more be stated that opportunities continue to exist in export markets, and this was also the case during the past week. Negotiations remain extremely sluggish and in some cases drag on for days. We observed hardly any flexibility in price negotiations on the customer side, and in the end we were left with outcomes that could essentially have been achieved or accepted at the very beginning of the discussions. Demand from overseas, as has been the case for quite some time, focused almost exclusively on the lower-priced cattle hides. This week in particular, cow hides and the Chinese market dominated overall activity. Exchanging views with colleagues in other countries and filtering the information derived from negotiations leads to one clear conclusion: price levels are extremely tight, and purchasing is confined almost entirely to the low-cost mass market for upholstery leather. In some instances, doubts arise as to whether buyers’ calculations are entirely sound, even though grain selections play only a secondary role, as the hides are in any case largely destined for finished, corrected articles. As a result, the price per square foot raw hide has become virtually the sole determining factor. Even split revenue, which was so frequently the decisive criterion last year, has faded into the background of current discussions. In Europe, it is more than evident that customers are playing for time when it comes to heavier and more expensive material. Confident that reduced production will not lead to any supply issues for raw material, they are taking all the time they need for discussions and potential decisions. It would not be surprising if this situation were to continue over the coming weeks. Only those approaching the end of an existing contract are likely to engage in serious negotiations. Against this backdrop, it comes as no surprise that price movements have been limited, while the renewed weakening of the US dollar has further contributed to slightly lower returns in Euro terms.