Holidays reduce hide demand

Holiday time is almost upon us and the Italians have realised that they are the only show in town. This is because of the case of anthrax in South Wales that caused the suspension of the issuing of health certificates for China by DEFRA. It is expected to be late in the year before exports of hides to China from the UK will be resumed. As a consequence UK hide sellers have been forced to switch en masse to the Italian market. The effluent treatment centre in Arzignano is due to close on July 22, so any deliveries to that area need to arrive by week commencing July 10. Because of this the Italians stopped bidding for hides in late June and prices began to fall. However, the gap between Irish and UK hides, which during the winter is usually around 10p per kg narrowed to 5-6p per kg. This is due partly to the fact that at present Irish hides are very clean and partly to interest from Chinese tanners as Irish hides can still be shipped to China. The only cloud on the horizon for Irish hides is the situation in China where hide stores are full of hides which had been purchased to beat the import tariffs due to be applied by July 1 this year. It is unclear whether or not this interest will be maintained for Irish hides. Prices in Ireland had fallen again to the following levels by late June: 36kg+……............................................................... 83p 31/35.5...................................................................... 90p 26/30.5 .................................................................. 97p 22/25.5..................................................................... 1.00 Cows traded at £27 per hide. Interest in lighter hides was virtually non existent. New season doubleface also slipped back as Türkiye continued to be the main player. Irish doubleface maintained a premium over English doubleface of around 30p per skin. Depending upon quality, Irish sold for £3.80-£4 and English £3.50-£3.70. Prices delivered Türkiye.