Hide Market

  There were what seemed like a lot of bids in the market for U.S. hides and wet blue equivalents last week.  Even though many of those bids were at levels that sellers found to be unattractive, we felt like there were enough orders that did meet producer’s expectation to allow them to move a week’s or near a week’s production.     Prices for Steer hides traded were up $1.00 for the Holstein selection, and steady to down as much as $2.00 for some of the Plump Steer hide selections.  The … [Read more...] about The Hide Market Report – May 2, 2016

U.S. Plump Steer hide values dropped another $1.00 or $2.00 last week as tanners that entered the market were able to outlast suppliers in their tug-of-war over prices.  It is hard for us to say how many Steer hides were traded last week.  With the fact that larger slaughter numbers are expected in the U.S. as we head toward the grilling season, we suspect hide and wet blue suppliers did not sell the numbers of Raw hides and Wet Blues they had wished to.  All tanners, especially the Chinese … [Read more...] about The Hide Market Report – April 25, 2016

Activity in the U.S. picked up last week.  We saw longer offer lists from suppliers, and an increase in bids from tanners.  Steer hide suppliers asking prices were steady to within a $1.00 higher than their most recently traded levels.  While at the same time Steer hide buyers tried to move prices lower, bidding down $1.00 to $3.00 per piece.  By the end of the week, there were a fair amount of Steer hides sold at or within a dollar of their previous week’s sales levels.  Although we did not … [Read more...] about The Hide Market Report – April 18, 2016

Things were fairly quiet last week for the U.S. hide market.  There was just enough buyer interest for the Steer hide selections when coupled with the lack of availability from the supply side, to keep the prices within a dollar of their previous trading ranges.  The buyer interest on the Steer hides has been much more wide spread over the last few weeks.  What we mean, is that the Chinese tanners have not been taking as large a percentage of the sales as we have become accustomed to seeing.  … [Read more...] about The Hide Market Report – April 11, 2016

All the reports we have heard or read regarding the Asia Pacific Leather Fair held last week in Hong Kong were negative.  Not negative to the hide market itself, but rather negative to the leather fair.  Maybe it is time to abandon this show all together.  We don’t know if it is the timing of the Hong Kong fair or the fact that the All China Leather Exhibition, held in Shanghai in the fall, has taken away from the need for the Hong Kong show.  Maybe, there is no longer a justifiable reason for … [Read more...] about The Hide Market Report – April 4, 2016

Demand for U.S. Steer hides remained strong enough last week to allow suppliers to move the prices for these selections up $1.00 per piece.  Also, producers of Plump Cow hides, both Native and Branded selections, were either able to move their sale prices $1.00 higher or at least keep them equal to their last traded levels.  This result on Plump Cow hides selections may have been attributed more to a lack of supply rather than demand.  During the week we continued to hear that, other than … [Read more...] about The Hide Market Report – March 14, 2016

  In spite of the fact that tanners everywhere, excluding auto upholstery leather makers, continued to complain about their business or the lack of business, all the U.S. Steer hide values moved up by $1.00 or $2.00 last week.  It appeared that enough tanners came into the market and finally accepted supplier’s higher asking prices.  Those higher asking prices from the supply side were the result of sellers being comfortably sold ahead and facing seasonally low production numbers over … [Read more...] about Hide Market Report – March 7, 2016

Last week there was once again no shortage of bids in the market for both U.S. Raw and Wet Blue hides.  If you were a seller in last week’s market, your success was totally dependent on what you had to sell.  If you had Big Packer equivalent Heavy Native, Butt Branded or Branded Steer hides on your offer list, you moved them easily at prices that were steady to up $1.00 or $2.00.  If, as a seller, you had second level Steer hides or low grades, then you struggled to find a buyer.  Tanners, other … [Read more...] about The Hide Market Report – February 29, 2016

Sales activity in the U.S. hide market last week can only be described as lethargic.  With the Lunar calendar New Year holidays commencing in full last week, Chinese tanners were shut down all week.  It was not that the absence of these raw hide and wet blue buyers was unexpected, but many in the trade said it was quieter than they could remember it being during previous CNY holiday periods.  The second largest buyer of U.S. hides, Korea, was also out for most of the week, but once they did come … [Read more...] about The Hide Market Report – February 16, 2016

The U.S. hide market slowed considerably as China stopped working to prepare for the Chinese New Year holiday.  The slow down did not keep some tanners from attempting to buy a few hides last week, hoping that they could bring the market down.  Bids in the beginning of the week were on average down $4.00 across the board, and most tanners showed little interest in compromising this week.  From the sellers side there seemed to be little interest in bringing prices down just to secure the little … [Read more...] about The Hide Market Report – February 8, 2016