Ecology has become an extremely important topic in today’s society. Personally, I do not think that the general public is very much concerned with ecology, but is pushed towards it by pressure groups both consciously and unconsciously. For some manufacturers or retailers, ecology is a form of publicity in terms of ‘we are green, so all green come and buy from us’. Without those pressure groups, whether institutional or private, we would live in a horribly polluted environment as we still see in some parts of the developing world.
We have experience from the Chernobyl nuclear power station disaster that pollution is not a locally containable occurrence, but a global event. Therefore if tanneries do not pollute in Europe, and if their production is relocated elsewhere where pollution laws are non-existent, or where they are not implemented, then global ecology has gained nothing. The pollution has in that case just been relocated together with the production but returns to Europe through the air and by sea.

Christine Powley-Williams married Paul Ohren-Bird on April 24 at Holy Trinity church, Northampton. Christine Ohren-Bird is divisional manager at Satra Technology Centre and put her industry knowledge to use by hand-painting her leather wedding dress (by Irina Couture; leather by Pittards)

Professor José M Adzet, research director of AIICA, Igualada, Spain, will present the 51st John Arthur Wilson memorial lecture at the 106th American Leather Chemists Association (ALCA) annual convention this year. The convention will take place at Grand Geneva resort, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin June 10-13. The Wilson lecture will be given on the ‘Transformation of Lime Splits and Trimmings from Hides into different Collagenic Materials’.

Andrew Muirhead, Glasgow based leather manufacturers, have announced the appointment of Archie Browning as sales director. A graduate of Aberdeen University, Browning has been involved in the textiles industry since joining Coates Viyella as a trainee in 1993. He progressed to the position of account manager before joining Replin, manufacturer of transportation textiles, in 1998. He joined Andrew Muirhead and Son from Macnaughton Holdings in August 2009.

Zhang Shu Hua has been re-elected as president of the International Council of Hides Skins and Leather Traders Association (ICHSLTA) at their AGM in Hong Kong on March 28. Madam Zhang is also president of the China Leather Industry Association.
Nick Winters of the French association SGCP and John Reddington of the North American association USHSLA were elected as joint vice presidents for the next term.
ICHSLTA co-hosted their meeting with the ICT.

Wolfgang Goerlich, president of the Brazilian tanners’s association (CICB) was elected as the new president of the International Council of Tanners at their council meeting in Hong Kong. He replaces Bülent Hazer, Turkey, who has completed his two year period in office. Richard Pai, representing the Taiwanese International Leather Association, was elected as vice-president. Pai is also managing director of Tehchang Leather Products Co Ltd.

Destruction of rainforests in remote parts of the Amazon may seem a far-off concern to many in the leather industry, given the numerous other environmental challenges that directly affect the daily operations of tanneries, such as toxic chemicals and energy use. However, cattle ranching drives 80% of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon and leading international players in the leather industry have recognised that their impact leads all the way back to the ranch. As a result, in recent months, significant strides have been taken that give real hope of a deforestation-free leather supply-chain.

Each month we post an opinion poll on our website which is free for anyone to enter. The results of the latest poll on the prediction of raw material prices can be seen on page 6. The majority of those that voted feel that the price of raw materials will continue to rise.

Germany, there is strong demand for the better hides from the car leather and top quality leathergoods tanners. Prices are hence firmer or at least steady. For these types one says there are still not enough hides available.

Following announcements in May from global leather chemical makers Stahl and Clariant, Lanxess have also announced a rise in prices of leather chemicals. In a press statement dated May 21, Lanxess said that they were increasing their prices worldwide for leather chemicals by between 5% and 8% with immediate effect.

In only its second year, Footwear Materials, Manufacturing & Technology, (fMM&T) in India attracted several thousand leather and footwear professionals.  Representatives of both domestic and overseas companies in the leather and footwear industries attended.

The UK Leather & Hide Trades' Benevolent Institution (LHTBI) celebrated their 150th anniversary with a reception and lunch at the Leathersellers' hall in London on May 27. Approximately £2000 (US$2900) was raised during the event to support the 82 LHTBI recipients representing former leather and leather product workers.

A group of around thirty people representing different aspects of the leather sector met over lunch during the APLF show in Hong Kong on March 29. The aim of the lunch was to discuss a strategy to launch a worldwide campaign to raise the profile of leather as a luxury and distinctive material to the end-user. The campaign, known as ‘Leather Naturally!’ aims to bring the whole supply chain together from large meat packers to tanners as well as major manufacturers and retailers of products containing leather.

A UK student’s collection inspired by restriction, straight jackets and the textures of animal hide will appear on the catwalk at London’s Graduate Fashion Week in June.
Gemma Francis, a third year Fashion Design student at Leicester’s De Montfort University (DMU) has used shiny and matt metallic leather, metal studs and custom-made nails in her catwalk collection, which is to appear at the prestigious event at Earls’ Court on June 8. The leather was supplied by GH Leather.

Satra divisional manager Christine Ohren-Bird has been appointed as the new Chairman of British Standards Institute (BSI) committee TCI/69. She takes over the role from Richard Turner, who retired as Satra chief executive in 2009 and served as chairman of TCI/69 for 34 years.

TFL have released their new TFL Colour Trends catalogue for the season Autumn/Winter 2011/12. In the catalogue, TFL present the colour trends for the leather garment, footwear, accessory and upholstery segments.

Clariant’s Business Unit Leather Services, a leading provider of chemicals and services to the leather industry, announced on May 17 global price increases for its leather product portfolio.

Italian shoe and bag maker Tod's said it sees rising profits in 2010, confirming a recovery in luxury goods sales seen in the United States and Asia.

The recent situation in the Chihu tanning cluster located in the town of Zhangpu, Fujian province seems to be getting closer to a resolution. Previously, the local authorities had indicated that they did not want to house any new tanneries in the area and instead were keener to attract what they called ‘high-tech’ businesses from Taiwan and elsewhere. This is despite the fact that construction was already underway at a number of sites in the Zhangpu area.

Satra Technology Centre will be exhibiting at the 20th Guangzhou Shoes & Leather Exhibition in China to visit stand 339-340 in hall 11.2.

The forthcoming edition of Le Cuir A Paris will be held from September 14-16 in hall 4 of Paris Nord Villepinte exhibition grounds, Paris. The organisers will be introducing a new exhibition concept called ‘home made’ which will be highlighting hand made/home made items. This space, designed by François Bernard, will be presented in eight steps highlighting the newest colours, textures, surface treatments and sensorial aspects adapted for use on leather for interior decorations and product design. Each step will be materialized with a luminous macro photo of leather together with real samples to be touched. Visitors will see within a calm, half-light the look and feel the new home furnishing innovations.

Following a recent meeting of the IULTCS executive in Hong Kong, the first IULTCS certificate of approval for a research proposal has been granted it was announced on May 10. The IUR under chair of Dr Dietrich Tegtmeyer accepted a proposal from Professor Walter Wen-Chien Kuo of the National Pingtung University of Science and Technology in Taiwan for a project entitled ‘Tannery wastewater treatment and reuse using horizontal bio-filter and constructed wetland.’ This certification process, now in place, has the goal of supporting global R&D efforts for sustainable leather manufacturing.

The Italian tannery and footwear machinery manufacturers association, Assomac, have announced that the next edition of the machinery and chemical technology show, Tanning Tech, will take place October 12-14 in Bologna alongside the autumn/winter edition of Lineapelle. Following a recession hit edition in 2009 the worlds most important tanning machinery exhibition aims to continue to ‘drive’ a recovery in the sector through innovation.

Hermes, the French luxury brand, posted the largest surge in first-quarter sales of all European luxury goods companies on May 6, pointing to a continued polarisation of the market in which well-established brands crush weaker rivals. Hermes is particularly known for their high-end leathergoods and footwear.

The FIFA world cup is due to kick off in Johannesburg and Cape Town on June 11. Interest in the matches is always high and this series in South Africa will be no different. Football fans all over the world will be keeping a check on the progress of their favourite teams using wallcharts which will become fascinating souvenirs when the final is over.

The 81^st ICHSLTA AGM took place in Hong Kong on March 28 prior to the APLF. Delegates (from China, US, Turkey, France, Australia) confirmed that they had all seen a recovery in past few months following a very difficult 2009. An exchange of information on tariffs and environmental protection policies were discussed.

Stahl will increase prices for several of its leather finish and performance coatings products, effective June 1, 2010, or as contracts allow.