Producers keep prices high

During the three-week period ended September 8, it appeared that many of the packers managed to obtain their asking prices on almost all selections. Tanners rebelled against the higher asking prices in the first week, but by week three, producers were getting the price they wanted. Heavy Texas steer prices held at around $68-69 for 62/64lb averages, despite resilience from some traders and South Korean tanners. Packers continued to boast that they were sufficiently forward sold to hold out for their asking price. However, the luxury of being forward sold was not quite so evident for branded steers. Packers attempted to ask for $68 on 62/64lb averages, but prices quickly fell to $65 where packers held and managed to increase prices to around $67 by September 8. Butt branded steers moved fairly well, with trade in the region of $67.50-69. In comparison, interest in Colorados was limited, with trading reported at around $64.50-65. Branded heifer trading was also minimal with offers of around $55.50 quickly being accepted. Trade of heavy native steers was fairly active, although did not find as much interest as Texas and branded steers. Prices remained at around $69-69.50, although peaked at $70 for 62/66lb averages by September 8. Heavy native heifers failed to find the same interest as their steer counterparts. The quantity sold was lower than production, with prices starting at around $58-59 but falling to $57-58 by week three. Exports In the three-week period ended September 8, the total raw hide export sales averaged 413,500 pieces, peaking at 597,800 pieces in the first week and falling to 241,500 pieces in the third. Although China was an active buyer, the majority of the volume sold to China was purchased by Taiwanese and Korean tanners for their Chinese operations. It appears that the domestic Chinese leather business has yet to pick up and is currently suffering from a lack of Russian business and a decrease in domestic consumption. South Korea took an average 164,467 pieces per week, followed by China with 87,067, Hong Kong with 46,233, Mexico with 44,100, Taiwan with 29,300, Japan with 17,200 and Thailand with 11,633. During their summer break, Italian tanners bought an average 6,333 pieces with 15,067 calf and kip. Weekly raw hide export shipments averaged 518,867 over the three-week period, although the final week's total of 322,900 had a negative effect on the weekly average. Outstanding raw hide sales were steady over the three weeks at an average of 4,071,533. Wet-blue sales averaged 101,467 pieces, dipping to as low as 35,600 during the middle week. South Korea was unsurprisingly the most active participant, importing an average 31,700 pieces over the three-week period, followed by Taiwan with 27,733 pieces. Both Hong Kong and China made one-off purchases at 60,500 and 4,900 pieces respectively, while several smaller players also made one-off purchases: the Dominican Republic with 6,100 and Mexico with 8,000. Weekly wet-blue export shipments averaged 107,367 pieces, peaking at 145,000 in the first week, while outstanding wet-blue sales remained steady at an average 482,000 pieces. Wet-blue split sales averaged 1,308,433lb over the three-week period. Hong Kong took an average 731,900lb, China took 348,567lb, Mexico took 102,267lb and South Korea took an average 68,566lb. Weekly wet-blue split export shipments averaged 1,534,233lb, dropping to 1,041,700lb in week two and almost doubling in week three to 1,995,900lb. Outstanding wet-blue split sales averaged 13,456,666lb.