Another one bites the dust

The big news from Ireland was that one of the oldest hide companies decided to stop purchasing fresh hides from slaughterhouses and would concentrate on their croupon cutting business instead. The last raw hide collection was due on November 7. This means that in the last year, the three oldest established hide handlers have gone out of business and this tells the sorry state of the hide business in Ireland. At the fair in Bologna, everyone was depressed about business and there were reports of warehouses full of finished hides and little to no interest in raw materials unless prices were reduced. In October, a two tier market formed: Italy versus the rest of Europe. 36kg+ in Italy were 72p ($1.20) and elsewhere 80p ($1.34). Prices at the beginning of November were as follows: 31/35.5kg ................. 88p ($1.47) 26/30.5kg ................. 90p ($1.50) 22/25.5kg ................. 95p ($1.59) Cows were weaker in line with overall market falls and a run of salted cows fetched £21 (US$35). Doubleface skins were under pressure as Turkish tanners found sales to Russia difficult because of the long hot summer. Russians did not come to Istanbul as normal and skin sales in October were reputed to be stock purchases for next season. Doubleface went for £6.25 ($10.44) delivered in the first week of November. Fellmongers went for £4 ($6.70) ex yard.