At the 19th edition of Sipiel, held from March 23-25, visitors gained an insight into the trends and new features that will shape the latest fashions in leather footwear and accessories for the Autumn-Winter 2007/08 season.

The national standards body of Russia signed an historic Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with ASTM International on April 4. The agreement was signed by Grigory Elkin, head of the Russian Federal Agency on Technical Regulating and Metrology (GOST R), and James Thomas, president, ASTM International, during a meeting at the Russian Federal Agency's headquarters in Moscow.

The Latin America department of Vietnam's Trade Ministry says that Vietnam has good prospects to expand its markets in Central and Latin America, according to the Vietnamese News Agency. The department said that Vietnam can increase its exports, including exports of leather and leather products, to the region by finding new markets in Peru, Paraguay, Uruguay, El Salvador and Colombia. Vietnam's main markets in the region for these exports currently include Cuba, Brazil and Argentina.

Ukraine's State Statistics Committee reports that Ukraine exported leather and leather products worth US$19.7 million in January, a year-on-year increase of 65%. Ukrainian imports of the same types of commodities in January were 28% higher year-on-year at US$9.5 million.

Serbia's Statistical Office reports that the production of leather and leather products in Serbia in the first two months of this year was 4.9% lower than in the same period in 2006. In comparison, the annual increase in industrial output in Serbia in January and February was 5.8%.

Poland's Central Statistics Office reports that manufacturers of leather and leather products in Poland increased their sales by 30.4% in the first two months of this year compared with the same period in 2006. In comparison, total sales by industrial enterprises in Poland in January and February were 14% higher year-on-year.

Macedonia's Statistics Office reports that the production of leather and leather products in Macedonia in January was 16.3% lower than in December and 18.4% lower than in January 2006. In comparison, the monthly decrease in manufacturing sector output in Macedonia in January was 27% and the annual increase 16.4%.

An International Forum is being held in Bologna from April 17-19, 2007. It is being organised by ICE, ASSOMAC, LINEAPELLE and the Bologna Fair, under the patronage of the Italian Ministry of International Trade and the support of Regione Emilia Romagna, and further to agreements with the African Associations ASOAC and ESALIA to organise an International Forum called: A Leather Bridge with Africa'.

Ireland's Central Statistics Office reports that Ireland exported raw hides and skins worth 94 million euros in 2006 compared with 74.1 million euros in 2005. Ireland also imported the same types of commodities worth 3 million euros in 2006, as against 2.6 million euros the previous year.

A new scheme of certification for test machinery for the tanning sector is already operative in the form of a UNI standard for marking the origin of hides and EMAS accreditation for the now imminent environmental certification: these are just some of the results achieved and projects planned in the first half of 2007 by ICEC, a certification body which specialises in the leather sector, both for ISO 9001 certification (quality management) and ISO 14001 (environment management) as well as for leather products for all uses.

Bosnia and Herzegovina's Federal Office of Statistics reports that farms in Bosnia and Herzegovina raised 233,289 head of cattle in 2006, compared with 234,125 in the previous year.

Leather industry companies in Belarus that exceed their production targets will be included on a list of companies that will receive various types of tax preferences, according to the Belta news agency. These preferences will cover VAT payments, profit tax and transport tax. It is envisaged that companies benefiting from these preferences will use their tax savings to invest in modernising their production capacities in order to become more competitive and expand their production, especially of export-orientated goods.

The polyacrylate polymers plant will have a minimum capacity of 30,000 metric tons per year, while the plant for speciality chemicals for leather tanning will have a minimum annual capacity of 12,000 metric tons of products in liquid or powder form. A spray dryer with a capacity of 10,000 metric tons per year is part of the investment. The new plants will be located next to BASF's existing facilities for polyacrylate polymers and leather chemicals in Pudong. The speciality chemicals for leather tanning carry the trademarks Basyntan, Relugan and Tamol.

Hall three, at the top of the centre, was given over to synthetics and components, which is apparently a growing sector. The building work was not overly obtrusive and merely resulted in some of the escalators and walkways through to the older part of the building being blocked off. Traders, the hamburger joint, had vanished but there were still plenty of places to eat.

TFL and the THOR Group have signed an agreement concerning sales, customer service and distribution of biocides for the leather industry. The agreement allows TFL to offer the Acticide WB range to all major leather markets by providing the leather industry not only with superior service but also safe and reliable technical solutions in the biocide field.

The Spring edition of Lineapelle, which will take place of 17-19 April, will host 1,300 exhibitors from 50 countries, at the Bologna fair district. The exhibitors in Bologna will show their collections of leathers, synthetics, components and accessories for Spring-Summer 2008, inspired by the theme of taste. The distinguishing features will be: cold pale dazzling colours, aromatic deep tones, sour fresh hues and spiced dry tones. Dazzling colours will include ice white, anthracite grey, dove grey, which emphasize volumes, shapes and materials. Blue, black and purple will never be flat and add rigour and geometry, alternated with soft glossy looks. On the other hand, lemon yellow, orange and acid green will inspire light transparent looks. Finally, the warmest colours, including all ochre and brown shades, are used to revisit the classic style in a modern mood.

The LANXESS Leather Business Unit has achieved another important milestone in its Asian strategy on the Indian subcontinent. Recently Juergen Hackenbroich, Regional Manager Asia Pacific, and S. M.Naseen, Chairman of Pakistan's Tanners Association, officially opened LANXESS's first leather application lab in Pakistan. It is located in the heart of the leather-manufacturing industrial zone in Karachi, Pakistan's largest city and the gateway to the country.P

All the courses offered include a large practical element and the school has its own tannery and laboratories where students gain first-hand experience making and testing a wide variety of leathers. Students have access to all university resources including on-campus accommodation (many rooms have en-suite facilities), an extensive library and 24-hour computer access.

BLC have launched their new on-line electronic testing management system. This means that customers will now receive automatic email communications at different stages of the testing process. The software will provide an integrated sales, testing and accounts system linked to their customer contact database.

The recent anti-dumping duty by the European Union of 16% on China and 10% on Vietnam has been heralded as good news for other Asian countries who have been overshadowed by the huge volume of footwear exports which have been accomplished by these two countries. India is just one of a number of countries who see this as their big opportunity to provide more footwear for the important European market.

In the television programmes we see talented and, of course, beautiful people use clever and sophisticated technology such as GCMS, FTIR and AA, to process crime scene evidence such as powders, dirt, fluids and materials. We sit and marvel as Gill Grissom processes what appear to be insignificant or even microscopic trace elements, identifying and tracing them to their origin and ultimately to the perpetrator of the crime.

As Christmas approached the seasonal decline in kills kicked in and by the week commencing December 18, cattle numbers fell off rapidly. This coincided with tannery shut down and during the period in between Christmas and the New Year the abattoirs killed on only one day.

During december the four-week period showed an average weekly kill 611,750 which is up from the 600,250 of our last report. These figures show an additional 1,210,000 hides were produced in 2006, compared with the year before. The new year commenced with a 1.6% drop in Federally Inspected Slaughter, down 8,000 hides from the same period last year.

Summary

In general, activity in India is still slow and below normal levels because of the continuing Monsoon rains. With domestic business, tanners prefer to wait than pay for the high prices for raw goat.

Hides generally remained steady throughout December. This was regardless of a lack of the strong buying interest that was seen throughout 2006. Prices for about all steer selections were mostly at $74 for equivalent quality material.

India has a big growth potential for the tanning industry and in the finishing sector which is why it is regarded as important for TFL to have a strong position in the whole added value chain, from the beamhouse to finishing. TFL are strengthening their position in this promising market beginning with the acquisition of the Indian finishing specialist Quinn in 2003 combined with the TFL overall know-how and infrastructure.

Syn-Bios, who describe themselves as a technologically avant-garde firm, will be presenting their summer proposals at IILF. They say: 'Our excellent know-how regarding the chemical treatment of leather and hide comes from first hand experience of the real problems faced by the tanning industry.

High Fashion content will be the focus of the display by Stahl India at the Indian International Leather Fair in Chennai. Finished leathers produced in Stahl India's applications laboratories in Chennai, Kanpur and Kolkata will be based on designs produced in Stahl International's Design Studio in Milan, Italy, and illustrated in Stahl's new seasonal Trend Books, the first of which are a new addition for Stahl's staff in India.

Novozymes are in the process of setting up their fifth foreign research and development centre - in Bangalore, India. The centre will develop enzymes for local products and strengthen the company's international research projects.

Habeeb tanning company of Chennai process 5 million sq ft of bovine hides per month using 60% domestic and 40% imported hides. The tannery employs 150 people and is currently working at 80% capacity.

Forward Leather Company produce special articles in kid leather for shoe uppers. The company have two tanneries which are located in Chennai with a total capacity of one million sq ft per month. The company use Indian raw materials in the course of normal production, although in special cases imported raw materials are used. The tanneries, which employ 250 people, are currently working at 80% of capacity.

FGL International are a relatively new company but with a long history. They are the natural continuation of Figli di Guido Lapi SpA and are the product of more than 50 years of experience and quality, synthesising the results achieved by selecting elements handed down over a long period of evolution through supplying tanneries with chemical products and services with a high technology content.

Emag Ltd and their Indian agent Noble Exports in Chennai have in recent years successfully been marketing New Zealand lamb, sheep and calf skins in India. In order to keep up with the increased demand in India for bovine leather Emag and Noble will in future offer a wider range of products such as wet-blue and crust bovine hides from New Zealand.

Clariant say they are facing a challenging and growing market in India for which their key to success is their 'Enhancement of service to ensure our customers' meet their challenges of leather manufacturing in the 21st century'.

Angus ChemicaL Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company, and Dow Biocides, a business unit of Dow Chemical International Pvt Limited (Dow India), will be introducing a broad selection of chemicals for leather manufacturing applications to the Indian market at the India International Leather Fair (IILF), January 31 - February 3, 2007. The portfolio includes problem-solving biocides, synthetic tanning and cross-linking agents that impart superior functionality when formulating high quality leather tanning products.