Market report 13.01.2022

The second week of the year was also extremely quiet. The Chinese seem to take the same rest with their holidays as the Europeans did over the Christmas period. Much is happening at the moment on the level of gossip and expectations and little on the actual tangible facts. One can also put it much more simply: There is a lot of talk but little action. Above all, the many filter the positive prospects out, especially by the slaughterhouses. Rising share prices, falling transport and energy costs, the end of the Corona restrictions in China, for example, provide the basis for optimism for the coming demand and prices and so attempts are made to prepare a basis for higher levels in the near future, even without sales. One can see it that way, but neither are these direct factors of influence on the hide market, nor does this tie in the possible and significant other and more negative factors. A falling USD (the triangle USD-RMB-EUR supported us until November, but has now turned significantly against EU hides), generally declining demand for leather as a material, overstocking in the retail sector, dwindling purchasing power, high geopolitical uncertainty and extremely differentiated demand in the various quality grades. Shining the spotlight on only one part of the whole will provide less than ever a reliable picture of everything. For our market, however, this also means a broad spread of the market situation. On the high-quality side, supply and demand are close

The kill

The kill is recovering, but very slowly. The current demand in the supermarkets is being served, but there are no big changes and they are not expected in the coming weeks. So, everything is stable and normal for a January.

What do we expect

In the next few weeks we expect only one really significant event. And that is the first price negotiations of the year with the slaughterhouses which will set the base for the first two months of the year. We do not expect much activity from the sales markets. Somehow the leather industry does not seem to feel much pressure to procure and everyone obviously has enough time before having to face up again. In Europe, only a few tanners are really working at full capacity and therefore the lower kill is not exerting much pressure. That is why there is no reason to expect big price changes at the moment and if there were, they would have to be downward adjustments so that the currency and the prices of the alternative markets would also be reflected in our prices.