The trade meet in Hong Kong

At the 3rd Upholstery Leather Conference in Hong Kong delegates learned that China had become a victim of its own success. Not only is there a sizeable over-capacity in the tanning industry but a very contentious issue is the shortage of labour in the built-up areas. In the past when labour was in short supply in industrial areas it was possible to import labour from other provinces. Now industry is becoming more widely developed across the country and tanners and footwear manufacturers have to compete with other industries offering better paid and more attractive jobs. According to Dennis Thams, Shanghai Richina, the reason that Vietnam is now one of the largest footwear manufacturers in the world is twofold. Previously, Chinese manufacturers set up offshore factories there to get around footwear quotas levied against Chinese manufactured footwear. Now they want to be located in Vietnam because there is a greater availability of labour. Shanghai Richina are trying to alleviate the manpower shortage through automation with men being replaced by machines. However, man is not the only shortage and there is insufficient electricity to cope with the needs of an area such as Shanghai. Frequent power shutdowns in built-up areas mean that companies are having to buy their own generators to keep production going. A representative of IKEA attended both the conference and APLF. IKEA are apparently interested in using more leather but to do this must have traceability throughout the supply chain. However, IKEA do not pay the kind of prices associated with top grade hides which are tanned close to slaughter and processed green, enabling the tanner to know exactly where the hides came from. At the conference the question was asked whether it was possible for leather with no discernable trace of chrome VI to later develop hexavalent chrome during the life of the finished product. The unequivocal answer given was 'Yes'! This could well have sounded the death knell to any possibility of manufacturers present wishing to increase their production lines using chrome tanned leather. The speaker gave the explanation that if you leave a piece of finished leather on a window sill for six months is will develop significant levels of hexavalent chrome. I asked Professor Tony Covington for his view which was that the protective coating on upholstery leathers would prevent the formation of chrome VI. Also, both he and I are one of many who are convinced that the test for chromium VI is basically flawed and subject to many false positives. Only when a test which examines the leather itself is developed will we have the true answer to hexavalent chrome formation. Sadly, with the commercial realities of present day research, it is unlikely that this will happen any day soon and in the meantime the only test possible requires the destruction of the very leather under examination in order to test the extracted fluid. The APLF show reflected the current state of the industry in that there were fewer exhibitors and, presumably, fewer visitors. Those that did not fare well are quick to say there was no business at the show but this simply is not true. It may have been subdued but there were still a lot of people milling around the aisles and visiting the stands. For those companies with something unusual or special to offer, there were many contacts being made. Everyday there is increasing evidence that to survive you must be the best, the most fashionable, the most innovative or the most useful. Many areas in the world have learned to their cost that they cannot compete by being the cheapest so need to find a niche in the market which they can supply. Shelagh Davy