Actual Slaughter Under Federal Inspection
$5-$7 higher. Very light volumes of sales in the south have been at $220 live.
The cow slaughter remains in decline from last year and beef producers are encouraged by high calf prices to hold older cows for another calf. The shortfall of the cow slaughter has kept packers pulling from the fed cattle population to put together weekly slaughter needs. There is a discount in the deferred contracts that is pricing in a plant closure. No one knows which plant will close, or the size of the plant, or when it will close. When a plant does close, it will allow packers to reduce the red ink that has been spilling most of this year. Live cattle operators will lose some of the benefit of too much processing capacity and the losses at the plants that subsidised gains in margin at the feedlot level.
Once again the closing of the Mexican border to imported live cattle will further tighten the pool of replacement cattle, which is already shortened to the point some pastures will go unstocked this season. Runaway prices this year have repeatedly demonstrated their ability to move still higher prices.
Few participants believe in the sustainability of the current price structure that forces almost every purchase of replacement cattle deep into the red ink. Adjustments will be difficult given the short supply of replacements in the pool. The industry will be forced to contract and contraction will be painful to many in the live animal space.
Prices for grain softened. Rain and good planting conditions are completing the placement of this year’s crop. Corn basis levels in Guymon, Oklahoma, are at $0.90, basis the July contract.
GERMAN PERSPECTIVE
This week: The market is still trying to form an opinion on how things should proceed. The spread of prices between different origins is increasing and it always takes a while for the effects to become apparent.
In Asia, all hide prices are constantly compared and demand quickly turns to the cheapest product. In Europe, reactions always take a little longer because there are more hide types that cannot be replaced immediately and there is also the large proportion of supply chains based on fresh, chilled goods. This creates significantly greater dependencies on both sides.
Replacing EU hides with material from overseas requires significantly longer lead times and the usability of the split in the collagen industry also plays a major role. This
means that demand is nowhere near as flexible as in other regions of the world. However, this does not change the facts. Demand for leather is widely lacking, we are approaching the three summer months and sooner or later the price pressure for most finished leather in Europe will become apparent. The slaughterhouses in Europe are trying to buy time month by month and are postponing the necessary price adjustments accordingly. It is pretty clear how it will end.
The lower kill will ease the pressures and buy time.
On the overseas markets, however, things are different. There, the struggle to find a stable price level and market equilibrium is very tough at the moment. Customers in Asia are taking the price basis that was used during the weeks of very high tariffs between China and the US as a basis and sellers are trying to restore the status quo that was in place before the tariffs.
Donald Trump then shocked the markets once again by threatening tariffs of 50% on imports from the EU. As unpleasant, serious and dangerous as this announcement may be, the president of the US is slowly losing respect and confidence in his economic competence. Nonetheless, these announcements are having the effect of further fuelling general uncertainty in all markets.
Market activity this week was again relatively modest. The good news is that buyers in China are at least enquiring about
prices and offers, but no matter how serious these enquiries are, direct deliveries to China are still not possible from Germany. and the weak US dollar doesn’t help either. The asking prices, however, were also not conducive to serious bidding.
The enquiries still give the impression that people simply want to know how urgently the suppliers need to sell. The little that could be placed this week achieved unchanged prices or slight discounts.
The kill: The kill remains low at the usual level for the time of year. Prices for live cattle continue to rise, albeit less markedly. A public holiday on Thursday will also result in reduced supply this week.
What we expect: It looks as if more time is still needed for the market to find safe levels again and a balance. There are many indications that demand will not really cover supply in the coming weeks either, although this will certainly vary from category to category. It also raises the question of what
will happen when the hides that have been bought in the US in recent weeks, especially by buyers in Italy, arrive in Europe. The time until the plant holidays is not long and we have not met anyone in the last week who expects an increase in leather demand until the autumn. So, we will now see if and when the next adjustments happen.
LONG READ
Leather and the Circular Economy: Circular Stories Bad for goods
This article on the 2025 trade crisis focuses on finished products and shows that companies and consumers everywhere, including the US, will feel pain.
Dreams of a quick calming of the storm after the US’s tariff announcements in early April seemed unlikely in the frantic first week of the month. Then, for many, calm came on April 9. Most of the new tariffs US president, Donald Trump, announced on April 2 came into effect within a few days. There was a baseline rate of 10% for almost all products coming into the US from overseas. For imported cars, aluminium and steel, there were tariffs of 25%.
Then there were escalating rates for places that President Trump said had taken the greatest advantage of previous, lenient trading regimes to rip the US off. Many of the biggest producers of leather and finished products that contain leather were on this list. There were tariffs of 46% for Vietnam, 37% for Bangladesh, 36% for Thailand, 32% for Taiwan and Indonesia, 31% for Switzerland, 29% for Pakistan, 26% for India, 25% for South Korea, 24% for Japan and 20% for the European Union.
Then, on April 9, there was a reprieve of sorts for most trading partners (but with one very notable exception). After a week of panic in government offices and on stock markets around the world, President Trump said he was pressing pause on these high levels for 90 days. He explained that this was to allow negotiations to take place on individual deals between the US and its partners, during which time their exports to the US will be subject to the 10% baseline rate.
Imported cars will still face 25% tariffs. Many products crossing the US’s northern border with Canada and its southern border with Mexico will also face 25% tariffs.
China crisis
Even among these other exceptions China is a case apart. China was among the countries that put in place counter- measures following the announcement on April 2, which President Trump had called Liberation Day. The US had imposed an additional tariff of 34% on imports from China, so the Asian country made a similar move, adding 34% to tariffs already in place on products from the US. This sparked further White House reaction and the US said on April 8 that total new tariff levels for China would be 104%. China came back the following day with a total figure of 84% for imports into China from the US. Later that day, the 90-day pause announcement came. But while, for the time being, most other tariffs have gone down, China’s went up, reaching 125%, then 145%. China responded with levels of 125% for imports from the US.
Millions of US cattle hides for the Asian country’s tanneries are among the products caught up in this. Our focus in this article is more on the billions of dollars’ worth of cars, shoes, bags, furniture and other finished products that flow into US ports, shops and homes from overseas factories.
Roll-back of globalisation
While all this was going on, stock markets everywhere registered huge fluctuations, rallying on the 90-day news, but initially suffering heavy falls. The immediate aftermath
LATEST HIDE AND SKIN PRICES FROM GERMANY
of Liberation Day was a situation that the Financial Times described as a deepening “global rout”. In another article, it said the markets were reacting to “an aggressive push to roll back globalisation”. Mr Trump, it said, seems intent on unwinding decades of economic integration, with the risk of a 1930sstyle global trade war causing the markets to panic.
The FT”s chief economics commentator, Martin Wolf, has said the US’s imposition of a new baseline tariff of 10% on almost all imports, with the steeper rates for many still looming, “injected massive uncertainty into the world economy”. He points out that this has made it difficult for companies to plan and make long-term decisions.
Speaking on BBC radio, Mr Wolf said: “We don’t know where Donald Trump’s policies are going to go. My guess is that, at the end of this, tariffs will remain much higher than they have been for close to 100 years.”
The author of an influential book called Why Globalisation Works, Martin Wolf says he fears the effects of Liberation Day will be longlasting. He says, too, that it is trade in physical goods, which, naturally, include hides, skins, leather and finished products made from leather, that will bear the brunt of the turmoil.
Economic disintegration
“Crucially, tariffs only really affect goods,” Mr Wolf says. “They don’t have much effect on services. It is very difficult for me to imagine that [the impact of Liberation Day] is going to be temporary. This means the disintegration of the ‘goods’ part of our economies.”
He explains that this disintegration had already begun, at the time of the 2008-2009 financial crisis, and adds that this new crisis is likely to accelerate the decline.
He argues that globalisation, with a huge proportion of manufacturing activity moving from the most developed economies to developing parts of the world, has been “unambiguously good”, especially for countries in Asia. He says that, thanks to
globalisation, extreme poverty in most of those countries has been “more or less eliminated”.
With the US receiving only 14% of the world’s imports, Mr Wolf also suggests that one outcome might be that the rest of the world continues to keep, and even improve, globalisation and the established multi-lateral trade system. It will probably be some time before we know if this can become reality, but even if it can the immediate future looks to be bad for goods.
Car commotion
US economics editor of The Economist, Simon Rabinovich, argues that the early effects of all the rhetoric have included a slowing of the US economy, with consumer confidence falling to its lowest level in 12 years and wider business uncertainty “off the charts”. As mentioned, the markets went back up sharply after news of the 90-day reprieve became public, but doubts remain over how high the tariff rates will go in the end and
which products will suffer the most. This is leading many companies to go into “a state of paralysis”, Mr Rabinovich says, with businesses “sitting on their hands, waiting to see what the landscape is actually going to look like”. He points to indexes that show trade-related uncertainty to be at its highest in more than half a century.
As we have seen, the automotive industry was an immediate target for tariffs. The original announcement of the 25% levy on overseas-made cars came one week before Liberation Day (which, incidentally, The Economist renamed ‘Ruination Day’). This will have a dramatic effect on the global automotive industry, Mr Rabinovich says. “The auto industry, everywhere in the world, is an integrated industry that relies on cross-border trade,” he explains. This includes the US industry too, which is “tightly woven in” with production networks in other parts of North America. A new car might be finished in a factory in the US, but before that happens, he says, the different parts and materials that go
FINISHING
doubting the importance of the US market to this sector.
LVMH reported full-year revenues of €84.7 billion for 2024, with €41 billion coming from its leathergoods and fashion division. It said 25% of revenues overall and 17% of its sales revenues in leathergoods and fashion had come from the US. Across all of its brands, LVMH had almost 1,200 stores in the US at the end of the year, stocking mostly products imported from France, Italy, Spain and other parts of Europe.
At Kering, the full-year revenue figure for 2024 was €17.2 billion. Grouping all of North America together, it said 24% of its revenues last year came from that market. Growth at Hermes took its results for 2024 to revenues of €15.2 billion. It gave a figure of more than € 2.8 billion for the whole of the Americas, 18.4% of the total.
It is usually late May these days before Chanel reports its annual results, so 2024 figures are not available yet. In 2023, the group achieved revenues of $19.7 billion. It,
Supplying innovative finishes to the automotive industry for over six decades
Quaker Color is a division of McAdoo & Allen, with roots in the leather industry for over a century
too, reports the Americas as a whole, attributing just under $4 billion of its revenues in 2023 to sales in this market, 20% of the total.
Making some adjustments for the different currencies and geographies involved in these groups’ reports, we can make an educated guess at combined revenues of around €30 billion in the US. At a 10% tariff rate, imports from these four groups alone would contribute around €3 billion per year to US government coffers. If the tariff rate were to go back to 20%, the figure would be € 6 billion.
Lack of support
There are bag brands on the other side of the Atlantic too, some of them big. But smaller ones in particular (of which there are many in the US) are now under severe strain, if the reaction of Sarah Wells is anything to go by. Ms Wells used to be the executive director of a national non-profit organisation in Washington DC. Returning to work after maternity leave in 2015, she searched high
and low for a stylish bag in which to carry around equipment she needed to express and store milk. Finding no bag that she liked enough, she designed her own and soon found herself giving up her job and launching Virginia-based Sarah Wells Bags. Some of her bags have leather, particularly in the straps. All of them are made in China and imported back into the US from there.
She says that the tariff impact on these imports of the chaotic, early-April tariff tit-fortat was already close to 100%, according to her calculations. This was before the later escalations. She explains that she would never be able to add this to her product prices to claw back enough margin to sustain her business. “And I don’t have the cash to come up with $100,000 to release goods at the port,” she says of product that was already on the ocean. If tariff rates stay this high, she is sure many business with a similar model to hers will close.
She adds that she would love to make the bags in the US, but says the infrastructure, resources and support she would need are
lacking. Even if there were the factory capacity at least to assemble the finished products, she has calculated that she would still have to import materials and components from suppliers in 14 different countries. All 14 are now subject to tariffs. Perhaps the necessary footprint can build up again in the US, but Ms Wells says it would take a number of years of paying costly tariffs for her still to be around to reap the benefit of this reindustrialisation. She doesn’t think she can do it.
NEWS ROUND-UP EUROPE
Leathergoods exports hold firm for France, despite handbag dip French leathergoods manufacturers brought in almost €3.3 billion in export revenues in the first quarter of 2025.
This figure is flat with the corresponding amount for the same quarter last year, however exports of the main product category, handbags, were down by 4% to €2.3 billion.
Revenues from shipments of small leathergoods increased in value by 10%, reaching € 314.2 million, and exports of watch-straps had a value of €37.9 million, up by 4% year on year.
With regard to imports into France of leathergoods made elsewhere, the value for the January-March 2025 period was just under €1.1 billion, down by 5%.
Imported handbags fell by 15% in value, reaching €478.8 million. The value of imports in the other categories declined too, with small leathergoods accounting for € 73.2 million of the total and watch-straps € 12.5 million, down by 17% and 7% respectively.
Moreschi acquired following bankruptcy proceedings
Italian
luxury footwear brand Moreschi has been acquired by Glam Srl, the company behind Superglamourous, together with its investor, the London-based Imerman Family Office fund.
The acquisition follows a court-supervised auction in Pavia, Italy, after Moreschi was declared bankrupt in 2024. Previously owned by Swiss investment fund Hurleys, Moreschi is best known for its handcrafted men’s formal shoes and has been part of Italy’s shoemaking tradition since 1946.
Glam and Imerman have taken over the Moreschi trademark, all related intellectual property, production machinery and materials. The financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
Production will remain in Italy, with both Moreschi and Superglamourous continuing to operate as independent brands. The new owners plan to combine Moreschi’s heritage in craftsmanship with Superglamourous’s digital-first approach to build long-term growth and global reach.
France: Q1 raw materials exports flat, imports down in value
Exports of hides and skins from France in the first quarter of 2025 had a total value of € 53.1 million, a figure that was flat compared to the same quarter last year.
Figures shared by Alliance France Cuir show that exports of bovine hides over the threemonth period had a value of € 34.8 million, up by 1% year on year. For calfskins, exports reached €10.9 million in value, an increase of 3%.
There was a big increase in the value of sheepskins, rising by 31% to reach € 3.8 million. But there was an even larger fall in the export revenues coming into France from shipments of exotic skins. This figure fell by 40% to reach €3 million.
Over the January-March 2025 period, tanners in France imported hides and skins worth €38.5 million, down by 8% compared to the same months last year.
Here, imported exotic skins had by far the biggest share of the total, with material with a value of € 27.2 million coming in. This, however, meant a fall of 14% compared to the first quarter of 2024.
Imports of bovine hides were down by 2% to €5.5 million, while the value of imported calfskins was down by 33%, reaching € 1.2 million.
In contrast, the value of imported sheepskins went up by 77% to reach € 4.6 million.
FILK leather days confirms 2026 host city
The 2025 Filk leatherdays concluded on May 22.
With more than 20 presentations, the programme covered a wide range of industryrelated topics, including the use of livestock to enhance biodiversity, the role of artificial intelligence, and advances in tanning technologies and updates on related chemistries.
The organisers announced that the next edition of the annual event—usually held in Freiberg in alternate years—will take place in the German city of Münster on July 1 and 2, 2026. The exact venue will be confirmed at a later date.
At the close of the event, it was also announced that this would be the final edition overseen by Christin Zingelman, who is set to leave the institute in June.
Italian competition authorities close Dior investigation
Leathergoods brand Dior has reached an agreement with the authorities in Italy over supply chain scrutiny there.
Competition authorities ordered an investigation into Dior in 2024 following allegations of low-paid, illegal workers enduring unfair conditions in the workshops and factories of some suppliers.
In a statement on May 21, Dior said it was committed to upholding values of transparency and respect throughout its supply chain. It undertook to improve its
monitoring of suppliers and said it would strengthen internal procedures to maintain fair conditions “for everyone who contributes, with great commitment and skill, to creating the finest-quality Dior products”.
Because Dior has agreed to these commitments, the competition authorities said they had closed the investigation into Dior and that the company would face no penalty. They said, however, that a parallel investigation into Armani was not yet resolved and would continue.
Armani has made no new comment about the situation but said last year it would cooperate with the authorities. It insisted that the allegations it faced had no merit.
SLTC launch new website
TheSociety of Leather Technologists and Chemists (SLTC) has launched a new website, providing a more intuitive platform for accessing its publications and services.
The updated site offers improved functionality for members and non-members alike, with features designed to support
professionals across the leather industry. Key updates include:
• Enhanced search tools to help users locate scientific and technical papers published in the Journal of the Society
• A new option for authors to pay for Open Access publication, making selected papers freely available to all
• The ability to purchase individual articles and create customer accounts without needing full SLTC membership
SLTC members continue to receive full access to all resources and can now create personalised libraries within their accounts to store frequently used material. The Society has said that further updates are planned in the coming weeks, including the addition of new resources to support members and improve the overall user experience.
Creative director to take up Balenciaga role in July
Luxury group Kering has announced that Pierpaolo Piccioli will become the new creative director of Balenciaga on July 10.
makes it natural
Mr Piccioli will take up the role from Demna Gvasalia, who will leave Balenciaga in July to become the artistic director of Kering’s biggest brand, Gucci.
In March 2024, Pierpaolo Piccioli left Valentino after 25 years at the label. His departure came a year after Kering had acquired a 30% stake in Valentino, with the option to purchase full ownership of the brand by 2028.
On making this new announcement, Kering described Mr Piccioli as “an accomplished and respected designer, and a master of haute couture”. He will unveil his first collection for Balenciaga in October.
It said it was confident the new creative director would be able to build on the success Demna Gvasalia has achieved in the last 10 years, “in continuity with” the legacy of the brand’s founder, Basque designer Cristóbal Balenciaga.
Deputy chief executive of Kering, Francesca Bellettini, said: “I couldn’t be happier to
welcome Pierpaolo to the group. His creative voice and his passion for savoir-faire make him the ideal choice for the house.”
UK’s luxury trade with Europe dips 43% since Brexit
The UK’s luxury businesses will be among those waiting to see how the new deal with the European Union could affect the industry, as luxury association Walpole published a report that showed exports to the EU were 43% lower than they may have been without Brexit.
The research, conducted by Frontier Economics for Walpole, is the first comprehensive analysis of Brexit's impact on the luxury sector. The effect has been particularly pronounced in fashion and accessories (-64%) and interior design, home and craftsmanship (-50%).
Meanwhile, exports to markets outside the EU have nearly returned to pre-pandemic levels.
Helen Brocklebank, CEO of Walpole, said:
"The British luxury sector has incredible growth potential, with a projection to reach £125 billion by 2028.
“However, to achieve this ambition, we cannot afford to have one arm tied behind our back. Strong links and favourable trading with Europe remain essential to reaching this forecast, alongside our success in other global markets, and key to supporting craft-led and high value manufacturing in the UK."
While the proportion of EU exports as a share of overall luxury exports has declined from 42% in 2017 to 32% in 2022, the EU remains the UK luxury sector's largest export market, ahead of both the US and Asia (both at 22%) and the Gulf (14%).
Since the UK's departure from the EU, the luxury sector has faced significant challenges, including increased trade barriers, complex paperwork requirements, and greater costs. Several British luxury brands have established fulfilment centres and commercial entities within the EU to mitigate these issues.
The luxury sector supports over 450,000 jobs and contributes £14.6bn to the exchequer.
Double figure Q2 growth for Birkenstock
Footwear
brand Birkenstock has raised its full-year revenue outlook after reporting a 19% year-on-year increase in revenue for the fiscal second quarter ended March 31, 2025, to €574 million.
Growth was driven by double-digit unit sales, higher average selling prices, and strong performance across both wholesale and direct-to-consumer channels.
Closed-toe shoes outpaced sandals in growth, supporting the increase in average selling price. Wholesale revenue rose 19%, while DTC also grew 19%, backed by strong digital and retail sales. The company added six new owned stores, bringing the global total to 77.
Regionally, revenue rose 23% in the Americas, 12% in EMEA, and 30% in APAC. Birkenstock said it continues to invest in physical retail, including new stores in Nashville, London, Paris, and three APAC locations.
Shoes and accessories increase their contribution to Richemont revenues
Luxury
group Richemont has reported fullyear revenues of € 21.4 billion for the period ending March 31, 2025. This figure represents growth of 4% year on year.
Jewellery and watches bring in the bulk of Richemont revenues, but a third category that it calls ‘Other’, which includes its accessories and footwear brands, brought in €2.8 billion, growth of 7%.
The Geneva-based group is the owner of leathergoods brands including Delvaux, Chloé, Montblanc, Alaïa and Dunhill. It acquired a controlling stake in Italian footwear brand Gianvito Rossi in 2023.
Adidas ends use of kangaroo leather in footwear
Adidas has confirmed it will no longer source kangaroo leather for its footwear, bringing an end to its involvement in the trade.
Chief executive Bjørn Gulden made the announcement at the company’s annual general meeting on May 15.
The decision follows pressure from animal welfare groups, including an in-person appeal by Wayne Pacelle, president of the Centre for a Humane Economy.
Adidas now joins Nike, Puma, New Balance and Sokito in ending the use of kangaroo skins, having previously clarified that the small proportion of kangaroo leather used is sourced exclusively from suppliers that are monitored and certified by the Australian government, to ensure both animal welfare and species protection.
The Center for a Humane Economy launched its ‘Kangaroos Are Not Shoes’ campaign in 2020.
Advocacy groups say Adidas’s decision marks a turning point and will increase pressure on other brands, including Japanese companies Asics and Mizuno, to follow suit.
Founding family members sidelined as LVMH exerts control at Riba Guixà
Reports from Spain suggest luxury group LVMH has asked Joan and Francesc Riba to give up their leadership roles at Catalan leather manufacturer Riba Guixà.
A specialist in Entrefino lambskin leather, Riba Guixà was founded in 1932. Brothers Joan and Francesc Riba are representatives of the fourth generation of their family to run the company.
In 2015, LVMH Métiers d’Art, the grouping of specialised manufacturing facilities and skilled craftspeople that the luxury group had newly set up, acquired 20% of Riba Guixà. A year ago, the Paris-based group increased its stake in the leather manufacturer to 80%.
In October 2024, LVMH moved Andrea Bertolini from the role of head of purchasing at Berluti to become the new chief executive of Riba Guixà. New documents that Riba Guixà has filed in official business registers show that Mr Bertolini’s name has been added to those with authority to act on behalf of the company.
Others listed as people with authority include finance director, Engracia Ponce, LVMH Métiers d’Art chief executive, Matteo De Rosa, and projects director, Hugues Pichon. Joan and Francesc Riba’s names are no longer on the list.
Full steam ahead for leathergoods at Ferragamo
Luxury group Salvatore Ferragamo has reported product sales revenues of €217.6 million for the first quarter of 2025. This is a fall of 0.9% compared to the same quarter in 2024.
During the quarter, the group’s biggest-
selling category was leathergoods, which brought in € 96.2 million. The figure for footwear was € 92.1 million. Ferragamo reported growth of 9.8% for leathergoods year on year, while its footwear revenues fell by 10.1%.
It also brought in revenues of €13 million for apparel and € 16.2 million for “silk and other”, signifying declines in both these categories of 2.6% and 2.9% respectively.
On reporting its first-quarter results, the Florence-based company said leather was its core business and would continue to be its main priority. It said efforts to carry over from previous seasons popular handbags such as Hug, as well as introducing successful new models such as Soft (pictured) had driven the positive performance of its leathergoods category in the first three months of 2025.
In footwear, it said it would focus on key models, including ballerina and pumps for women and elegant-formal shoes for men.
Ageing workforce a priority as EU upskilling project advances
Partners from around Europe gathered in Pirmasens, Germany, a city renowned for its shoemaking heritage, to advance the Erasmus+ Blueprint MetaSkills4TCLF project.
The EU co-funded initiative aims to develop specialised training programmes focused on the green and digital transition in the textiles, clothing, leather, and footwear (TCLF) industries, equipping individuals with knowledge to thrive in a changing industry.
Work is currently under way on learning content for 36 curricula, focused on the circular economy and digital fashion. This will include e-books, immersive virtual reality (VR) experiences and 360° videos. Filming of industrial sites across various countries is already in progress.
Following the initial survey conducted in April 2024, the METASKILLS4TCLF consortium launched a second annual survey to assess the evolution of skills needs of European companies and education providers. The 256 responses revealed strong concerns about an ageing workforce and the pressing need for generational renewal. Between 31% and 50% of employees are estimated to require advanced digital skills.
More than half of all jobs are expected to require new digital or green skills within the next five years. Youth engagement remains a key issue, with 39% of respondents stating that young people perceive careers in the sector negatively, and 34% viewing perceptions as neutral.
To foster collaboration and ensure a highly skilled workforce, project partners are establishing several networks, which meet regularly to share best practices, collaborate and learn from one another.
METASKILLS4TCLF will also contribute to the upcoming EU Textiles Ecosystem Platform, which will be officially launched on May 16. The platform will provide stakeholders with access to essential information on EU policies, interactive workshops and webinars, networking opportunities, peer-learning
experiences, and a space to connect with fellow industry actors.
In addition to planning future project activities, partners from Belgium, Germany, France, Greece, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, Spain and Ukraine had the opportunity to visit the premises of PFI, a test and research centre in Pirmasens.
Entries open for 2025 New Furniture Maker Awards
The Furniture Makers’ Company has opened entries for its 2025 New Furniture Maker Awards. The awards are part of the New Furniture Makers Exhibition, scheduled to take place in October in the City of London.
Organised by the livery company for the furnishings industry, the exhibition and awards programme showcases furniture and furnishing design talent from GCSE-level students to recent graduates. The New Furniture Maker Awards are the student equivalent of the Guild Marks and aim to highlight future potential and excellence in design.
A large number of entries are submitted each year across multiple categories. The 2025 edition will also include work by finalists from the Church of England’s Empty Chair Competition.
Among the categories is the Leather Prize, which is open to young designer makers using leather in furniture design and construction.
The 2023 Leather Prize was awarded to Holly Preece for her Hide Armchair.
Jobs to go at Burberry as revenues fall by 17%, with leathergoods lagging
Accessories and apparel brand Burberry has reported full-year results of just under £2.5 billion for the 12 months ending March 29, 2025. This is a fall of 17.1% compared to the previous financial year.
The company said outerwear and scarves had performed better than the group average, that ready-to-wear had performed broadly in line with the group average, but that leathergoods had lagged the group average for the 12-month period.
Chief executive, Joshua Schulman, who took up the role in mid-July 2024, said Burberry had faced “a challenging first half”. Under his leadership, he said the company had put in place a new strategic plan “to reignite brand desire, improve performance and drive long-term value creation”.
It said it hoped this plan will help it save £100 million by the end of March 2027. This will include a “reduction in people-related costs” which could impact around 1,700 jobs across the company.
Mr Schulman said: “The continued resilience of our outerwear and scarf categories reaffirms my belief that we have the most opportunity where we have the most authenticity. While we are operating against a difficult macroeconomic backdrop and are still in the early stages of our turnaround, I am more optimistic than ever that Burberry’s best days
are ahead and that we will deliver sustainable profitable growth over time.”
ZDHC
certification renewal for TFL
Leather chemicals group TFL has renewed its ZDHC MRSL V3.1 Level 3 certification through the Chem-MAP programme, administered by Eurofins | BLC Leather Technology Centre Ltd.
The certification confirms that all TFL Gateway-listed products comply with the highest level of chemical safety requirements under the ZDHC framework. The assessment includes testing of raw materials and finished products, as well as on-site audits conducted every two years.
Audits began at TFL Quinn India Pvt Ltd. in Hyderabad and Mumbai, followed by TFL China Ltd. in Changzhou. Each site received a Grade A rating, and TFL was designated as a Chem-MAP Leader by Eurofins.
Additional audits are scheduled in France, Brazil, and Italy.
Record auction demonstrates ‘growing appeal’ for rare handbags
Anauction of rare handbags broke Christie’s record for an online sale of this kind in Europe, with a total €4.3 million being spent on around 280 bags.
Three-quarters of the bags sold above expectations, showing the “growing appeal of rare and iconic pieces”, according to the auction house.
The sale attracted 804 bidders – a third of whom were first-time buyers – from 47 countries. A third of the buyers were millennials.
Stand-out lots included a black crocodile Hermès Kelly bag, which sold for €201,600, and an alligator Hermès Birkin, which sold for €176,400.
A hide supply crisis could await, COTANCE warns
Senior representatives of the leather industry in Europe have held a meeting with a counterpart from the European Commission’s directorate general for the environment. The focus of the discussion was the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which will start to come into application at the end of 2025.
The president and vice-president of industry body COTANCE, Manuel Ríos and Fabrizio Nutti, met the international relations officer of DG Environment, Emanuele Pitto.
COTANCE secretary general, Gustavo González-Quijano, also took part in the discussion.
Afterwards, COTANCE said that Mr Ríos and Mr Nutti had made it clear to the European Commission official that, as things stand, leather manufacturers in Europe “face a supply crisis”.
They said only the livestock and meat sectors can provide the detailed information required for cattle hides to meet EUDR requirements. So far, they said, there has been
no clear signal from hide suppliers in the European Union or outside of it when and how the necessary information might become available.
This, they added, has left uncertainty among European leather manufacturers over access to the raw materials they are going to need in the months ahead.
COTANCE said it was grateful for the opportunity to engage with DG Environment, but insisted that if hides, skins and leather remain among the products that come within EUDR’s scope, a supply crisis could lie ahead.
It added that the leather industry in Europe was being unfairly impacted by regulations that “have no real connection to the sector”.
Geneva talks deliver tariff breakthrough
China
and the US are to lower, at least temporarily, the prohibitively high tariff levels they exposed on each other in April.
Following a weekend of talks in Geneva, the two countries announced new measures on May 12. For 90 days, while talks on a more permanent arrangement continue, the US will lower to 30% the “reciprocal” tariff on Chinese goods of 145% that President Donald Trump announced in April.
For its part, China will reduce its retaliatory levy on US goods from 125% to 10%.
Separate tariffs of 20% on materials imported from China that the US links to the manufacture of synthetic opioids will remain.
Rino Mastrotto Group claims environmental gains with new leather
Italian
leather and fabric manufacturer Rino Mastrotto Group has unveiled a new leather line named Hearth, and claims it matches the performance and aesthetic of traditional leather while delivering significantly reduced environmental impact.
The company says it is the result of longterm research and a commitment to lowering the footprint of leather production, particularly in the retanning, dyeing, and fatliquoring stages. A thirdparty Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), carried out in 2024 in line with ISO 14040 and 14044 standards, compared 1 m² of finished cowhide made using conventional processes with one produced using the HEARTH method.
Rino Mastrotto claims that Hearth reduces water use by 91% and chemical input by 23% in these key stages of production. The LCA also identified a 22% reduction in CO2 emissions, a 25% drop in both fossil resource use and freshwater eutrophication, and a 7% decrease in freshwater ecotoxicity.
The company describes Hearth as a “revolutionary” product that supports more efficient resource use without compromising on quality, and says it reflects its wider strategy to combine luxury manufacturing with environmental responsibility.
ASIA
Shoes provide leg-up for Bangladesh’s leather exports
Bangladesh’s leather sector exports grew 10% in the first 10 months of the financial year (from July to April 2025), compared with the same period last year, to $932.5 million. These figures were boosted by a 26% rise in footwear export revenue to $545.35 million, according to the Bangladesh Export Promotion Bureau.
However, the detailed figures indicate that finished leather exports decreased by 8%, totalling $107.6 million in value, and leather product exports declined by 6% to $279.57 million.
Bangladesh earned $1.3 billion from its leather industry exports during the 2023-24 fiscal year, which spans from July to June.
Footwear exports from China steady in volume, but down in value
Chinese shoe manufacturers exported more than 2.1 billion pairs of footwear of all kinds in the first three months of 2025, bringing in revenues of $10.25 billion. These figures represent falls of 0.7% in volume and of 11.2% in value compared to the same months in 2024.
These exports included 120 million pairs of leather footwear, which brought in $1.75 billion. This means shipments were up in volume by 1%, but down in value by 2.3% year on year.
Traders and retailers in China imported 12.75 million of leather shoes and boots in the three-month period, with a value of $560 million. This means imports of leather footwear fell by 22.4% in volume and 20.9% in value.
China: hides and leather imports down, despite wet blue increase
TheChina Leather Industry Association (CLIA) has reported total sales revenues for major leather manufacturers in the country in the first three months of this year at 12 billion RMB. At current exchange rates, this equates to around $1.7 billion.
CLIA said this figure represented a decline of 10% compared to the first three months of 2024.
Between the start of January and the end of March 2025, China imported 358,000 tonnes of raw hides and skins, a decrease in volume of 1.2% year on year. The value of these imports of raw material was $310 million, which represents a fall of 10.5% year on year.
Imports of semi-finished leather reached 168,000 tonnes in volume and a value of $240 million. These figures are up on the previous year’s, but 25% in volume and 1.3% in value.
Imports of finished leather into China reached 9,000 tonnes in volume and $130 million in value, down by 2.7% and 15.1% respectively.
South Korea warns fashion brands over false ‘eco leather’ claims
Four fashion brands in South Korea have received official warnings for using misleading environmental claims to market synthetic leather products, according to reports in local media.
The country’s Fair Trade Commission (FTC) announced on May 15 that it had sanctioned Musinsa (Musinsa Standard), SHINSUNG TONGSANG (Topten), Eland World (Miso, Spao), and ITX Korea (Zara) for promoting products made with polyurethane and other petroleum-based materials as 'eco leather' or 'eco-friendly'.
The FTC found that the products used ordinary synthetic leather fabrics without any recognised eco-certification or environmentally friendly processing. It said the repeated use of terms such as ‘eco’ and ‘ecofriendly’ risked misleading consumers, especially given the environmental impact of polyurethane during its production and disposal.
The case is the first major enforcement action under revised environmental advertising guidelines introduced in August 2024.
While all four companies have voluntarily amended or removed the marketing terms in question, the FTC said it would continue monitoring for greenwashing and would take tougher action in future cases.
Job-cuts and factory closures ahead for Nissan
Automotive group Nissan has reported fullyear revenues for the period ending March 21, 2025, of around $82.5 billion. This was down by 0.4% compared to the previous year’s figures.
The group sold more than 3.3 million vehicles over the 12-month period, down by 2.8% year on year.
It said it would intensify its efforts to cut costs as it attempts to turn sales around. As a result, it will cut 20,000 jobs over the next four years.
Chief executive, Ivan Espinosa (pictured), said the group would also consolidate its global manufacturing set-up, reducing its 17 plants at the moment to 10 within the next three years.
AMERICAS
New CICUR offices inaugurated in León
The main representative body of the tanning industry in the Mexican state of Guanajuato, CICUR, inaugurated its new offices in León on May 22, with municipal authorities and industry representatives in attendance.
According to figures from the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS), the tanning sector accounts for 54,851 formal jobs in the municipality, approximately 13% of the total. CICUR president Vicente Lahud Martínez said the new headquarters reflect the sector’s long-
term vision and capacity for adaptation.
Municipal president Ale Gutiérrez described the industry as an economic mainstay and noted that the local government has allocated more than 2 million pesos ($102,000) between 2022 and 2024 to support training, equipment, and infrastructure in the sector. She also highlighted the broader Avanza León programme, which involves over 5 billion pesos in planned investment to improve infrastructure and economic conditions across the city.
Falls for US wet blue exports, even before tariff increases
Wetblue exports from the US fell by 9% in volume and by 17% in value in the first quarter of 2025.
The percentage figures that the Leather and Hide Council of America (LHCA) has shared suggest that tanners and traders in the US shipped just over 800,000 wet blue hides in
the first three months of this year, bringing in revenues of around $85 million.
Leather manufacturers in Vietnam were the biggest buyers of US wet blue in the first quarter, taking 34% of the total. This was followed by China with 20% and Italy with 17%.
In the first quarter of 2025, before tariff increases kicked in, the average export price of a US wet blue hide was $106.25. In the first quarter of 2024, the average price was around $101.
Pangea reports progress on emissions, waste and certifications
Automotive leather group Pangea has published its 2024 sustainability report, outlining progress in emissions reduction, waste management and product innovation.
The company reports a 25% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions since 2021, achieved
through energy optimisation and solar projects at sites in South Africa, Mexico and Germany. At its León plant, all waste from leather shaving operations is now repurposed into bio stimulants and biopolymers.
All of its sites have received gold ratings from the Leather Working Group. Supplier ESG compliance has improved through collaboration with platforms such as NQC and EcoVadis.
Two new materials—Verita and Pulvera— feature metal-free coatings and upcycled content to support circularity and material transparency. It has also achieved Oeko-Tex Class 1 certification for automotive leather.
“As automotive customers seek to decarbonise their supply chains, our work in traceability, energy efficiency and responsible chemistry proves that leather can—and should—be part of a sustainable solution,” said global director of sustainability and innovation Roger Pinto.
Green light for hide exports from Bolivia to China
Bolivia has signed an agreement that will allow it to begin shipping raw cattle hides to China.
The South American country’s ministry for foreign relations recently hosted a delegation from China at meetings in La Paz. Afterwards, it said shipments of bovine hides from Bolivia to China would begin.
At the moment, the Bolivian governments puts the volume of hides shipped from the country at 22,000 tonnes per year, including finished, semi-finished and raw hides. It said these exports are worth $12.5 million per year to the Bolivian economy.
But following the talks, it said China’s demand for raw material for leather production is as high as 1.8 million tonnes of hides, making the new agreement an opportunity for “significant growth”.
Brazil audit deal curbs Amazonlinked cattle buying
Asettlement between Brazilian prosecutors and major meatpackers has sharply reduced cattle sourcing from illegally deforested areas of the Amazon, Reuters reported, citing newly released audits.
The agreement, known as TAC da Carne, requires companies to audit direct cattle suppliers across six states. While indirect suppliers remain unmonitored, the audits show clear progress: only 4% of cattle purchases by participating firms showed irregularities in 2022, compared to 52% among non-audited companies.
Meat giants JBS, Minerva, and Marfrig now use independent auditors. JBS improved compliance in Pará from 68% in 2020 to 97% in 2022.
Prosecutor Daniel Azeredo said the data show strong progress, but warned illegal cattle still enter supply chains via indirect routes.
“We must recognise challenges remain,” he said.
US cow hides for $1
There have been widespread reports for some time of hide prices reaching historical lows in the mid-2020s.
Demonstrating the point in a graphic way, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has confirmed that US cow hides are now selling for $1 per piece.
Several times a month, USDA publishes a major packer hide report confirming current prices of steer and cow hides from different parts of the US. Its report for May 8, 2025, includes an entry that reads: branded southwest cow hides, each weighing 50-52 pounds (22.7-23.6 kilos), with a weighted average price of $1 per piece.
USDA explains that this is the free-on-board (FOB) price for a fleshed and cured cow hide.
Records in USDA’s current format for presenting these figures only go back to late 2017. For reference, in December 2017, a branded cowhide weighing 50-52 pounds cost between $28 and $30.
Prices were low at the start of this decade, falling to $4 in January 2020. But by the end of that year the price had risen again to $11.50. Then they fell to $7 by the end of 2022 and moved by only small values between then and the end of March this year.
Following the announcements on tariffs that US president, Donald Trump, made on April 2, USDA reported no new cowhide prices for most of the rest of that month. By May 8, clearly, the impact of high tariffs on exports of the raw material had begun to be reflected in rock-bottom prices.
A 90-day pause on the punitively high tariffs on products moving between the US and key cow hide buyer China may now move the price up from $1, but the official documented evidence shows how stark the market reaction was.
Investment in biogas electricity generation at Friboi plants
JBS
has invested R$17 million (US$3.3 million) to use methane captured from its operations to generate electricity at four Friboi plants in Brazil.
The methane is processed into biogas and used to power generators, reducing energy costs and reliance on the national grid.
Since 2023, the Ituiutaba (Minas Gerais) and Andradina (São Paulo) units have produced a combined 2,053,017 kWh of electricity, equivalent to the monthly consumption of 12,000 homes. The Barra do Garças (Mato Grosso) and Mozarlândia (Goiás) sites are expected to add 1.1 million kWh in the coming months.
In total, JBS says it has produced around 50 million cubic metres of biogas since 2023, avoiding 263,700 tonnes of CO2 equivalent. The wider project began in 2021 with the installation of biodigesters at nine Friboi facilities. The total investment is R$77 million (US$15 million), with R$55 million (US$10.7 million) from JBS, R$4 million (US$780,000) from Âmbar Energia, and R$18.4 million (US$3.6 million) from other partners.
JBS is also assessing the use of biogas in transport and potential sales of surplus electricity.
Tariff-wary Tandy mulls losses for 2025
US retailer Tandy Leather Factory has reported flat revenues for the first quarter of 2025, 1.2% down on the same period last year, at $19 million.
During the quarter, it completed the sale of its corporate headquarters building, which allowed the company to pay stockholders a dividend of $1.50 per share.
A move to a new headquarters in the third quarter of this year is still expected to lead to significantly increased costs and operating losses for full year 2025.
CEO Johan Hedberg said: “Already under way with moving-related efforts, we were pleased to still achieve first quarter sales and operating income that were somewhat ahead of our internal forecasts.
“We hope to continue that momentum through the second quarter and beyond, while noting that we have not yet felt the full impact of the coming tariffs on the US economy and our products, which are nearly all imported. If tariffs remain at the currentlyannounced levels, this will necessarily require us to increase our retail prices and likely lead to unavoidable declines in our sales and profits."
However, tariffs could change - the US and China yesterday announced a substantial lowering of their rates.
Tandy Leather Factory is a specialty retailer of a broad product line, including leather, leatherworking tools, buckles and adornments for belts, leather dyes and finishes, saddle and tack hardware, and do-it-yourself kits. The company distributes its products through its 100 North American stores, and one store located in Spain.
AFRICA
Rwandan government invests in ETP for tannery park
The Rwandan government is pushing ahead with its plans to build a tannery park in Bugesera, 40 kilometres south of the country’s capital, Kigali, with the announcement of an Rwf8.5 billion ($6 million) investment in the infrastructure.
This will go some way towards attracting the $15 million needed to build the park, according to local reports.
The Minister of Trade and Industry, Prudence Sebahizi, said: “Currently, we are focusing on the construction of an effluent treatment plant, which is being executed with a budget of Rwf1.7 billion.”
The park will generate an estimated $430 million annually once completed in 2029.
