Market Report 30.08.2024

What happened this week

Today, Friday, marks the end of the second third of 2024. We would hazard a guess that the majority of leather factories and perhaps some of today’s suppliers do not regard this period as the best in history. The discussions about the difficulties in the leather industry have been sufficiently discussed recently and therefore do not need to be repeated. For those who were not satisfied with the first eight months of the year, the motto now becomes ‘champagne or soda’, as the last few months of the year can still often bring increased production and improved results. Some of today’s suppliers also seem to be relying on this theory. This year, too, there has been an almost reflex-like increase in asking prices, and this even applied to many originsS around the globe. On what basis and with what knowledge this decision was reached remains a mystery. Whatever may happen in the future, but the first few weeks after the summer break have never been characterised by major positive developments and it is always the big meeting in Milan that can offer everyone at least a somewhat reliable impression of the order situation and the state of the leather industry. Contrary to many assertions, we do not have the impression that it was possible to have much success with higher prices. Even if one or two overseas suppliers were able to achieve marginal mark-ups in Asia, the currency development up to yesterday should not be forgotten. European hides, including German hides, have already become 3-4% more expensive than before the summer break due to the weaker dollar. So those who did not change their prices in Euros gave the impression that prices were rising and higher prices were being made. The return to production has not yet really begun in Europe. Italy in particular will probably not see a full return to production until next week. You can’t exactly say that customers have been queuing up this week and giving the impression that they want and need to buy a lot very quickly now. Nevertheless, it is also true that there were indeed the first returnees, and to be honest, at least our business this week was characterised by trials. It wasn’t about large quantities, nor was it about significant price changes, but there were some customers who simply wanted to try out other types of goods at unchanged prices. In addition, there were one or two renewals of current programmes and if you didn’t want to do any big price experiments, the sales were relatively quick. In the end, it was the first week in a long time with volumes that could be reasonably counted and prices that were almost unchanged.