Leather fashion colours and trends for the Autumn /Winter 2008 season were in evidence at the latest edition of Lineapelle which took place at the Bologna Fiera from October 17-19. Visitor numbers were lower than usual on the opening day although the second day was busy with most stands receiving visitors. Despite the quieter feeling in the halls the level of professionalism among visitors remained high.

Branaa SA (Pty) Ltd were due to start finishing from crust during October. The company, which opened in 1997, have until now been a cutting operation only, importing finished leather from their parent company in Uruguay. General manager Romualdo Varela said the company had 'confidence in South Africa', and had also been 'encouraged' by OEMs to extend their local operations and local content, which benefits OEMs in terms of the Motor Industries Development Programme (MIDP). Branaa's customers in South Africa are BMW, Audi, Ford/Mazda, and Nissan.

Turkey's State Statistics Institute reports that Turkey imported raw hides and skins, and leather, worth US$373 million in the first eight months of this year, a year-on-year increase of 17.9%.

Final data for 2005 from Slovenia's Statistical Office reveals that manufacturers of leather and leather products in Slovenia recorded sales totalling US$437 million in 2005. Sales on the domestic Slovenian market were worth US$117 million and on export markets, US$320 million.

Russia's State Statistics Committee reports that the number of people employed in Russia's leather industry in June was 43,500, of whom 42,700 were employed on a full-time basis, according to the Interfax news agency.

The Korea Shoes Trading Company are reported to have developed a new product from an un-named marine organism that removes fats and oils from leather without the need to use chemical de-oiling and softening agents, according to the KCNA news agency. The product is said to simplify the tanning process and reduce production costs. It is now being used by many tanners in North Korea.

On October 26, a live auction will be held at the Euro Hotel, Nuoro, Sardinia, to sell of the plant and leather processing machinery of Falliment Master Sarda srl of Bolotana, Zona Industriale (Nuoro). This was by order of the Bankruptcy Tribunal of Oristano. Viewing will be in the morning and the day before at the tannery premises.

Ireland's Central Statistical Office reports that the number of cattle slaughtered in Ireland in the first eight months of this year was 10.5% higher than in the same period in 2005.

Slovakia's State Statistical Office reports that the production of leather and leather products in Slovakia in the first eight months of this year was 1.5% lower than in the same period in 2005. In comparison, overall manufacturing output in Slovakia in the January to August period was 11.9% higher year-on-year.

Slovakia's Statistical Office reports that Slovakia exported hides and skins, and leather and leather products, worth US$92 million in the first seven months of this year, a year-on-year increase of 19.7%. Slovakian imports of the same types of commodities in the January to July period were 0.1% lower year-on-year at US$174 million.

Brazil's National Statistics Institute reports that a total of 7.53 million head of cattle were slaughtered in Brazil in the second quarter of this year, an increase of 6.32% compared with the first quarter of this year and 2.74% higher than in the second quarter in 2005.

Armenia's National Statistics Committee reports that there were 592,067 head of cattle on farms in Armenia on January 1 this year, compared with 573,260 at the start of 2005 and 565,844 at the start of 2004.

Argentina's National Statistics Institute reports that Argentina exported leather and leather products worth US$497 million in the first half of this year, a year-on-year increase of 8.1%. Argentina exported leather and leather products worth US$949 million in 2005 as a whole.

Fashion Access (FA) is the largest trade fair in Asia for handbags, footwear, travelware, leather garments and fashion accessories. It is the place to view new products, inspiring designs and future trends from across the entire price and product range.

Buckman Laboratories have won this year's SumTotal Systems ToolBook Design Award for Best Native ToolBook Application. Buckman's winning entry was an interactive employee orientation program designed by Mauro Rech that provides new hires with a more efficient way to learn about the organisation. Rech used CD-ROM delivery with an auto update capability to deliver ever-changing information to a global audience.

The latest edition of Lineapelle will open in Bologna on Tuesday October 17 and will run until Thursday October 19. Exhibitors will display the best collections of hides, components, accessories, fabrics and synthetics for the autumn-winter 2007-2008 season.

TFL have been awarded two prizes from long-term customers Eagle Ottawa. The 2005 Performance Award was given in recognition of continuous improvement. The Innovation Awards for TFL's achievements regarding Innovative Contributions, especially new technologies in the beamhouse and the TFL Topcare System.

In March, Leather International magazine and the BLC Leather Technology Centre will co-host a major one-day conference aimed at the global leather making and retailing industries. Set to take place on Tuesday, March 27, 2007, at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, (HKCEC), the conference will precede the APLF which runs from March 28-30. It will feature presentations by leading figures from major international retailers, brands, tanners and other technical organisations.

The Chrom6less Project

A high number of studies regarding hexavalent chromium and leather have been carried out during the past ten years. Most of the studies have been focused on the analytical method to determine hexavalent chromium in leather and especially the extraction process and the specificity of the method has been discussed. The question which has been raised is whether the results from the analytical methods can, in fact, actually determine the content of hexavalent chromium in the leather. These reports and studies will not be discussed in this paper.

W2O Environment Ltd, a UK-based consultancy, offer independent environmental engineering, consulting and training for the leather industry worldwide. The company have ten years' experience in environmental technologies in the leather industry and offer a complete environmental assessment for tanneries, including the areas of leather processing and effluent treatment.

Summary

Introduction

The entire raw hide situation in Argentina in the past six months has been influenced by the prohibition of meat exports imposed on 8.3.06. The prohibition lasted 60 days and was replaced by a strict quota system. As a consequence, this year there has been a slaughter reduction of 1,175,000 animals to July 30, accounting for 15% of the total kill. However, this caused a reduction in the supply of hides from April to August of approximately 270,000 hides/month which is close to 25% of the normal supply, causing a hide price increase of 50% over 30 days.

The US hide market maintained its strength during August and into the Shanghai Leather Fair in early September. However, with the exception of some selections like plump cows, the most voluminous supply only registered minimal gains on relatively small volume.

Federally inspected slaughter figures for the four-week period ended September 16 showed an average weekly kill of 654,500 which is up on the 630,750 of our last report despite a shorter working week over the Labour Day holiday. These figures are still running at 3.8% above the same time last year.

On July 3, 2006, the Camel Tannery started operation under their new name Al Khaznah Tannery. Situated in the United Arab Emirates, the tannery is a one hour drive from the city of Abu Dhabi. Capable of producing leather from a variety of sources (camel, cow, sheep and goats), the Al Khaznah plant is located in the desert between Al Ain and Abu Dhabi, around 200km away from Dubai. On-site residential facilities have been provided for managers and staff who require it as well as accommodation for visiting technicians and engineers from chemical and equipment suppliers.

The grand opening ceremony for the new $18 million manufacturing facility for Stahl Coatings and Fine Chemicals (Suzhou) Co Ltd took place on Friday, September 8, immediately following the All China Leather Fair, in the presence of an audience of over 500 invited guests from China and South East Asia.

Compañía de Tierras Sud Argentino (CTSA), the oldest and largest wool production business in Argentina, are planning to open their first sheepskin tannery in 2007. The facility will be located in Trelew, in the Chubut province of Patagonia and create an estimated 140 jobs.

As a result of a two-year project, Spanish doubleface specialists Genis Antel have relocated their beamhouse processing to Brazil.

Len Kershaw, who worked for Stahl UK Limited as export manager in the late 1970s, has died.

Sophie Maurel has officially joined the Leather International team as the representative for Italy.

Abstracts are now being gathered for technical presentations at the upcoming XXIX Congress of the IULTCS, which will be held jointly with the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Leather Chemists Association in Washington, DC, USA, on June 20-24, 2007. The formal deadline for receipt of abstracts was October 1, 2006, but the organisers will consider late submissions on a space-available basis. Submitters will be notified of their selection in November and will be asked to submit a proceedings article on their talk by March for distribution at the Washington meeting.

Flamar Italia, known across the world for the production of shaving machines and buffing and air-dedusting groups, have now launched an updated model of their sammying and setting out machine; the Twister model. The machine is available in the following working widths: 2400, 2700, 3100 and 3300mm.

Using Vision technology allows the Selectra from Turner to automatically grade hides and skins. The Selectra 1.5m version for crust skins and the 3m Selectra WB for wet-blue hides are currently available from Turner who are committed to taking the technology further.

Mosconi's Aster shaving machine is the natural evolution of the company's previous RMG shaving machines. Its construction is in a single heat-treated one piece block. The Aster is designed to achieve the very best in blade cylinder sharpening and constant shaving thickness. The operator will have key new controls at their disposal, such as the self-learning function to store specific set-ups and work sequences. The system is equipped with a powerful numerical control (CNC) combined with a heavy duty PC with touch screen TS technology to display interactive pages and is a guarantee of successful results in all stages of the shaving process.

The main features of Carlessi's latest rotary spray cabinet 'Diamond' include: stainless steel AISI 304 construction; big doors positioned on the control side and on the suction side as well; easy access and use of the electric controls. The spray cabinet can be equipped with an internal water recycling system by electro-pump or with dry bottom (Diamond/S) or with static water (Diamond/F).

Italian manufacturer Infragas Nova Impianti are leaders in catalytic technology with 25 years of experience in the production of thermic energy through catalytic combustion process of LPG and natural gas.

Olcina, Spain, are very proud of their Cangilones drum technology which offers a number of advantages to the tanner including a reduction in water and energy requirements which lead to important savings in effluent treatment. In addition, a Cangilones equipped beamhouse requires 48% less area than traditional drums.

In October 2003, Unido Vienna promoted, sponsored and financed the construction and installation of an SFF at the Addis Ababa Abattoir in collaboration with the Ethiopian Tanners' Association. Although little time was available for training and experimentation, the installation was objectively a success. Such a success that the ETA organised a (Unido sponsored and financed) well-attended workshop, and the abattoir in question, after seeing the SFF work for bovines, wanted to develop a baby SFF for sheep and goat on the spot.

The current edition of the TFL Colour Trends and Fashion Inspirations catalogue for the spring/summer 2008 season, takes its flower theme from nature. Produced by TFL in association with Italian designers Carmen Rimoldi and Sergio Belloni, the new fashion trends bring us a return to nature in our homes and bodies. Prints of leaves and flowers mixed together stand out strongly in the universe of the Fashion System.

The SIC Group, organisers of the biannual Le Cuir A Paris exhibition, have announced their colour forecast for winter 2007/08. This season will focus on three major narrative forms: Legends, Novels and Essays which will take a romantic turn where colours will lead us to the land of legends and fairytales. These are relevant to all sectors: ready-to-wear, decoration, accessories, furnishing and the automotive industry.

According to the latest trend lecture from GDS, fashion is undergoing a fundamental change. The fashion picture in summer is characterised by naturalness and lightness, by clear-cut, minimised shapes and slender silhouettes. White and all near-white shades symbolise freshness, purity and modernity and add a sensual, very seductive touch to fashion.

Clariant's Leather Business have launched their new Global Colour Forecast shade card illustrating the latest fashion colours for the forthcoming spring/summer season 2008. The company will give their clients a first insight into colour trends for shoe, garment, upholstery and accessories in leather. In co-operation with an international trend institute, Clariant are able to present this exclusive information directly to their customers at an early stage.

The Casacide range of performance biocides from Thomas Swan & Co Ltd has been boosted by the acquisition of Tolcide TCMTB products from Rhodia UK. The move makes Swans a major player in the specialised sector of leather biocides with a complete portfolio of products for of diverse industrial processes.

From the organisers of Istanbul's Leather Days exhibition comes a new fair concept entitled fw:ist. Fun and Fashion Weekend Istanbul will take place on November 17-19 and will be held at the Hilton Convention Centre in the heart of the city.

The Paris show grew by 12% in exhibitor terms at the September edition. This compared with the previous autumn show which, traditionally, is bigger than the spring show. Le Cuir A Paris is organised by the SIC Group and is now part of a combined fashion industry group of fairs at the Paris Villepinte showgrounds, Premiere Vision Pluriel.

After approval of the relevant authorities, DyStar completed the acquisition of the Boehme Group on August 9, 2006. With the Boehme Group, DyStar broaden their extensive product offering for the textile industry and strengthen their position in the leather business.

September was a busy month, kicking off with another successful and growing edition of the All China Leather Fair in Shanghai, which was itself preceded by the 25th International Footwear Conference, held for the first time this year in China.

GOSH Leather, part of the Schaffer Group, closed their doors on August 31 after thirteen years of making upholstery leather from wet-blue in their Aus$10 million tannery in Hamilton Hill, Fremantle, Western Australia. Prior to that, they had grown from a small tanning operation called Calsil, which was established in the Shilkin tannery when it went bankrupt in 1984. They renamed themselves GOSH in 1988.

The Christchurch-based sheepskin tannery G L Bowron is facing its fourth round of restructuring since 2003. 120 staff, including 80 production line workers will be asked to take redundancy. The Japanese-owned company currently employ 335 staff, as 75 workers were laid off earlier this year.

On Saturday, September 9, two days after the ACLE fair in Shanghai, Ruixin Company of Wenzhou opened a tannery in Haining, Zhejiang province, to produce grain leather for upholstery. The company already operate a split tannery for upholstery in Wenzhou.

Japan is planning to set up footwear factories in Thailand in a bid to avoid the risks associated with having China as its only source of imports, according to the Export Promotion Department. Director-general Chantra Purnariksha said Japan was considering several countries in Asia in which to establish the factories, including Thailand, as part of the government's aim of trying to reduce the flood of imports from China. The move would also reduce the risk of a supply shortage if imports from China were delayed. Chantra said the Japanese government would form joint-ventures with Thai partners that would create a win-win situation for both sides. 'The investment will increase Thailand's footwear-export industry as well as its share in the market', she said.

China's Vice Minister of Commerce, Gao Hucheng, is visiting Europe for high-level negotiations with the EU on the controversial anti-dumping duty on Chinese shoes. The European Commission plans to impose a 23% duty on Chinese leather shoes beyond a suggested limit of 140 million pairs.

The All China Leather Exhibition in Shanghai was even bigger this year, occupying five halls with the fifth devoted to the CIFF and Moda Shanghai footwear fairs, which this year had their own entrance to help alleviate bottlenecks at the registration desks.

The 25th International Footwear Conference was held in China for the first time on the day before the opening of the ACLE leather fair in Shanghai. This year's event was organised by the China Leather Industries Association (CLIA), represented by Madam Zhang Shu Hua. The event provides a forum for representatives of the Asian shoe producing sector to meet, exchange data and better understand the trends in the marketplace.

Eagle Ottawa South Africa have finally taken the decision to close. While this action has long been anticipated, in compliance with SA labour legislation, at this stage the company have only informed customers and suppliers that they have 'commenced a consultation process with our employees on the possibility of closing our manufacturing facilities.' They have also declined to comment for publication on the same grounds.

A new tannery is due to open shortly in Jinja, Uganda, processing raw hides into leather for Chinese company, Skyfat Tannery Co Ltd. Skyfat have invested $5 million in the facility and aim at adding value to Uganda's hides for export to China.

The South African section of the Society of Leather Technologists and Chemists have issued a call for papers for their 57th annual convention which will be held in South Africa from June 8-10, 2007.

BLC has developed two new training courses to help companies meet the increasing demands of both legislation and discerning customers.

TFL's agent Swiss Speciality Chemicals have opened a new technical service centre in the busy suburb of Korangi, in the heart of Karachi. The newly-built location covers 400 square meters and consists of a laboratory which includes a chemical sample facility, offices, boardrooms and fashion displays. The laboratory comprises state-of-the-art equipment and will allow tanners to take advantage of services such as colour matching, fashion development and other tailor-made processes.

Rohm and Haas Company have announced a set of strategic initiatives designed to accelerate growth and enhance profitability. Collectively, these efforts will help the company build on their most successful technologies and enable them to respond more quickly, and appropriately, to market needs around the world.

CTC Asia have announced the extension of their laboratory in Hong Kong. The surface area has been increased five-fold and new testing machinery has been added, such as sole abrasimeters, sole flexometers and tensile machines. The laboratory in Hong Kong is a subsidiary of CTC, a leading global resource providing quality assurance solutions for the footwear and leathergoods industries. This makes the facility one of the best equipped laboratories in the region with the fastest turn-around times.

DuPont have announced a breakthrough technology for leather products that withstands rainstorms outside, and washing machines at home.

Following an audit by TUV Thüringen, the Zao Russkaya Kozha tannery have recently been awarded the quality management certification ISO 9001:2000.

According to a diplomatic source, the European Union has adopted, by the narrowest of margins, new anti-dumping measures against imports of leather shoes from China and Vietnam.

A Free Trade Agreement has been signed between Japan and Mexico that will offer new export opportunities to local exporters and manufacturers. The agreement is the result of a commercial mission from Mexico who visited Japan in July with the aim of forging links and contacts with Japanese footwear importers.

The fashion trends in leather, accessories and components for footwear and leather goods, under the banner of the 'Sensitive Culture', will be leading players at Trend Selection New York, Anteprima in Milan and Lineapelle in Bologna.

The 125th International Leather Goods Fair was held in Offenbach, Germany, from September 28 to October 1. Topical seasonal novelties with bags and leather accessories for Spring/Summer 2007 were on show.

Reports coming out of China indicate that the new regulations regarding imports of raw and wet-blue hides and skins into China have moved into the next stage. This is unlikely to provide Chinese tanners with any good news unless they are producing entirely for the domestic market, whereby they have been paying the taxes all along.

BASF have announced that they achieved in North America annual fixed cost savings of $400 million ahead of their planned target of mid-2007. The savings measures are part of a two-phase restructuring program initiated in 2002 to increase profitability. BASF are pursuing a course of profitable growth in North America through investments and acquisitions and plan to spend over $500 million per year on capital expenditures in the region in 2006 and 2007.

Vietnamese footwear exports to Australia have increased rapidly over the past three months according to the Ministry of Trade.

Statistics Norway reports that the country produced 60,602 cow carcases for human consumption in the first half of this year, compared with 59,832 in the same period last year. A total of 132,953 sheep carcases were approved for human consumption in the January to June period this year, as against 125,499 in the corresponding period in 2005.

The latest edition of Premiere Vision Pluriel, which encompasses Expofil, Premiere Vision, Indigo, Mod'Amont, and Le Cuir a Paris, was held from 19-22 September 2006. A large number of buyers were attracted by a rich offer and an increased number of exhibitors. Across Premiere Vision Pluriel, a total of 1,507 companies presented their collections for the autumn/winter 2007-2008 fashion season. Designers and manufacturers from over 100 countries attended to peruse the collections and place their orders.