As boring as it may be, the market did not really get any new impulses this week, which was simply due to a lack of activity on the one hand and on the other hand certainly also to the fact that people in Europe are waiting for the new contracts at the slaughterhouses for the month of November. Basically, the situation has been the same for weeks. Buyers and sellers alike are waiting for the big event that could drive the market situation and prices in any significant movement or direction. That is not happening at the moment because neither side is feeling much pressure to make big price changes. So for another week, everything will remain more or less the same. The raw material needed for the luxury sector remains scarce, the heavy male material, which finds its home in specialities for shoe leather or in the automotive industry, is waiting for the significantly increased kill and the pressure on the female material has not yet built up to the point where there would have to be emergency sales. In the case of female goods, the price level has already been lowered to such an extent that large downward price changes are not necessary in the short term and, on the other hand, due to the difficult situation of furniture leather, price increases can hardly be considered realistic. The male product is clearly overvalued in international comparison and as soon as the supply can no longer be absorbed so easily, decisions have to be made on how to deal with the situation. From Asia this week came again the same demands as we have seen for months. Either

very low-priced goods, which are mainly used for gelatine and collagen production, or certain higher-quality raw material types are being selected in order to test their usability and profitability. From Asia, the interruption caused by the early Chinese New Year is now also making itself felt, so that purchases that arrive before the holidays are hardly possible and one still has enough time to make one’s decisions for the time afterwards. Nevertheless, it remains the case that the general global situation does not encourage any tanner to take larger risk positions in raw material, even though many hide types are historically so attractively priced and low. The currency situation did not make the overseas discussion any easier this week either. Even those who expect a significant improvement in the coming year and might therefore be willing to risk some money on a market bet do not feel that they are under much time pressure to do so or might lose opportunities very quickly. As mentioned earlier, the next two weeks will be spent negotiating prices at the abattoirs for the coming month or perhaps even until the end of the year. It is clear that risk considerations and due to the general market situation significant discounts would be necessary to protect oneself from potentially  nasty surprises in the coming months already. The only thing stopping the players is the recurring fear of losing market share and capacity utilisation. Definitely the worst of all justifications

The kill

The kill stopped rising this week. This was certainly due to the exceptionally mild weather and the significant increase in live cattle prices. Very warm temperatures are also expected again next week, which will not favour meat consumption either. So for the time being, at least for the short term, we can expect an interruption of the usual seasonal increase in beef production.

What do we expect

We would be very surprised if the general standstill were to break as early as next week. The weaker US dollar weighs on the calculation to Asia and in Europe it would be a miracle if before the negotiations with the slaughterhouses and the clear signals from the leather industry how to position themselves further in the market, really new prices would come about. In the following weeks, the market will have to find its bearings, because then the interruption of production over the Christmas period and the resulting adjustment of delivery schedules will have to be considered and included in the further considerations for the market situation.