JBS-Swift & Co CEO Wesley Batista has told a Senate judiciary subcommittee hearing that his company's proposed acquisitions of National Beef Packing Co and Smithfield Beef Group would not reduce market competition.

A new trade fair initiative in India to be launched by APLF Ltd, Footwear, Materials, Manufacturing & Technology (FMM&T), will take place in Delhi in the spring of 2009. This new trade fair will be organised in association with the Indian Footwear Components Manufacturers Association (IFCOMA), one of the leading trade associations servicing the US$5 billion Indian footwear industry, with the support of other relevant trade associations. 

More than 300 exibitors are expected at the next edition of Le Cuir A Paris to be held from September  23-26, 2008, in hall 4 of the Parc des Expositions de Paris Nord Villepinte. Among the new exhibitors, the Italian participation will be reinforced with 13 newcomers as well as the return, after a period of absence, of Conceria Incas and Italhide. There will also be first-time participation by JSC Vilniaus Kailai (Lithuania), Sri Sinn Fah Tannery (Thailand) and Tanneries Megisseries du Maghreb (Tunisia).

JBS SA have completed the acquisition of the Tasman Group, Australia. The $150 million deal makes Sao Paulo-based JBS responsible for 15,000 employees and owner of 15 production units in Australia.

Effective July 1, 2008, the Leather business unit of the speciality chemicals group LANXESS will transfer their regional marketing headquarters in Asia from Hong Kong to Singapore, from where the relevant logistics processes for the Chinese market will also then be handled. This means that in future order handling and distribution of the Leather business unit for the entire Asia region will be controlled for the most part from the ‘hub of Asia'.

A US Senate Judiciary subcommittee on the Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights, has announced a hearing on May 7 on the ‘Concentration in Agriculture and an Examination of the JBS/Swift Acquisitions'.

BASF have posted a further record quarter for the first three months of 2008. First-quarter sales rose by almost 9% to €15.9 billion, while income from operations (EBIT) before special items increased by more than 11% compared with the same period of 2007 to almost €2.4 billion.

April saw the Turkish leather industry converge on Istanbul for two separate fairs for the garments and footwear and leathergoods sectors.

Officials in the region of La Rioja have declared that in the liquidation process of the Yoma tannery, property belonging to the company will be sold off at auction. The auction, to be held on April 25, will involve thirteen lots previously Yoma property ranging in value from 48,000 pesos to 4,120,000 pesos, and located in La Rioja, Córdoba, Catamarca, Buenos Aires y La Pampa.

JBS SA have received approval from the Australian government to purchase multi-species processor Tasman Group. JBS plan to complete the $150 million deal on May 2 and integrate Tasman as a subsidiary of JBS-Swift & Co, Greeley, Colorado, who already own four beef processing plants and four cattle feedlots in Australia.

Japan has suspended beef imports from a National Beef Packing Co plant following the inclusion of one carton which contained a portion of vertebral column, a specified risk material prohibited by Japanese protocols.

Massimo Donda, president of Italian Shoe Trade Federation Federcalzature inaugurated the Chinese Shoe Fair in Dongguan on Wednesday April 16.

Stahl’s Colour Forecast for Autumn and Winter 2009/10 says that there is a taste for change. After several seasons of over-abundance, eccentricity and the triumph of artificial over the natural, there is a strong desire to return to a state of equilibrium. Is this a reflection of the current world economic climate? Has this resulted in a wish for fashion to take things steady rather than go overboard? Or is it simply a question of pausing for thought while we mix technical and traditional once more?

INESCOP have proven the viability of using DNA markers to protect footwear from piracy. As the image of Spanish footwear and its added value increases, so does the impulse to copy it, and it is increasingly important to ensure that the fakes can be distinguished from the originals. INESCOP, as part of a European project, have successfully completed trials of two innovative techniques in the fight against fakes.

Gerber Technology, a business unit of Gerber Scientific Inc of the USA, officially opened their Advanced Technology Centre (ATC) in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, on April 8, 2008, with a celebration that included over 150 guests, including representatives of media, government and customers, as well as local and overseas partners. Bui Xuan Khu, permanent vice minister of industry and trade, was chief guest at the opening ceremony together with Kenneth Fairfax, US Consul General, and Marc Giles, president and CEO of Gerber Scientific.

Cotance is stepping up actions in the defence of the leather sector's Intellectual Property Rights. A Newsflash has been up-loaded on the Euroleather site (COTANCE links up to the European Commission website) allowing real-time intelligence about counterfeit shipments to customs in the member states.

Argentina has extended to March 31 its limits on beef exports, which were imposed by President Nestor Kirchner in March 2006 in an effort to safeguard domestic beef supplies at low prices and curb inflation. Buenos Aires will continue to limit exports to 40,000 metric tons of beef on the bone per month.

Ion-mask, the revolutionary super-hydrophobic treatment from P2i Ltd, has attracted substantial investment from Unilever Ventures. The additional funding will allow P2i to accelerate the introduction of its ground-breaking technology across its chosen market segments.


For exactly 100 years Otto Dille have been dealing with the import and export of vegetable tanning agents and has developed into a trading company known far beyond Germany.

The China Leather Industry Association's (CLIA) Genuine Leather Mark (GLM) office will continue to implement its brand strategy in 2008 in order to boost the sector's image on the international market. Through certification of companies' excellent performance, Genuine Leather Mark and Eco-leather Mark are leading China's leather and leathergoods companies on the road to brand development.

Since July 1, 2007, what was formerly Cognis' Process Chemicals SBU has been trading under the name of Pulcra Chemicals, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Cognis group.

South Korea has agreed to open its market to all US beef products from cattle of all ages, US trade representative Susan Schwab said in a statement. South Korea closed its market to US beef and beef products after a case of BSE was discovered in the US in December 2003. Prior to this time, South Korea was the third-largest export market for US beef and beef products.

Returning to its traditional early date schedule, the forthcoming The WSA Show will be held under one roof at the Las Vegas Convention Centre (LVCC) on July 28-30, 2008, with the luxury/designer exhibition, The Collections at WSA, continuing for an extra day, July  28-31, 2008, within the suites of The Venetian. 

Clariant will be showing their spring and summer colours for 2009 at Guangzhou Shoes & Leather Fair, May 28-31. Their new collection of leathers, based on spring/summer 2009 colour and fashion trends, covers most types of leathers, including shoe upper, handbag, garment, sofa etc.

Soraco offer tannery machinery accessories made from a wide range of materials. Accessories are an important as the last link in a long chain which enable tanners to optimise quality, yield, production and costs.

In order to provide customers with a better service, TFL Quinn India have established new technical service centres in Chennai, Kanpur, Kolkata and Vaniyambadi.

Dr Mark Wilkinson took the new Master of Leathersellers, Anthony Collinson, to Chengdu in April to learn about the developing relationship between the Sichuan University Leather School and the University of Northampton. 

LANXESS are launching new products for leather retanning and finishing at FIMEC, April 8 to 11, in Novo Hamburgo, Brazil. The focus will be on innovative products and technologies for retanning and finishing.

Levotan X-Cel, the latest development in retanning, consists in an optimised polymer dispersion using innovative technology based on expandable microcapsules.

Advantage Partners, an Asia-based private equity firm, have announced that the funds that it services have entered into an agreement to acquire 100% of GST AutoLeather Inc (GST), a leading global supplier of automotive leather, from SILLC Holdings. GST are a premier global provider of leather upholstery for automotive seating and trim and supplies many of the world's major automotive original equipment manufacturers, including Toyota, Honda, General Motors, Chrysler, Ford, Volkswagen, SAIC, and Nanjing, among others.



The Asia Pacific Leather Fair appears to be evolving in those areas such as finished goods and substitute materials at the expense of the leather sector. This is still a respectable leather show, however, with 16% of exhibitors at MMT offering hides and skins, 45% semi-finished or finished leather, 3% process dyes and chemicals and 6% machinery.

The second Design-a-bag competition at APLF attracted some 200 entries from professional designers and design students. The competition is carried out entirely by email, meaning that students don’t have to finance and create a prototype of their design.
Prizes for the design-a-bag competition 2008 were presented by Jeffry Guthrie-Strachan of BSLT.

The Best of APLF Awards symbolise excellence in design, quality and innovation, were once more a feature of the Asia Pacific Leather Fair held in Hong Kong. According to Perrine Ardouin, organiser, the winners of the materials and leather awards are put into contact with design schools such as BSLT in the UK and Thomas Bata University in Czech republic, thus helping to connect young design students with the industry.

IQTEX and BASF have jointly developed a unique, intelligent system which adapts shoes to suit weather conditions. To make this possible, IQTEX have processed a special superabsorbing fleece from BASF into an innovative ventilation element known as Vayu Verde.

According to Meatingplace.com, , a Justice Department official has said that the JBS purchase of two of their US competitors does not necessarily constitute a violation of the nation's antitrust laws.

Prime Tanning in Maine and Shanghai Richina Leather in China, announced a merger of the large tanning organizations during the APLF in Hong Kong on Monday. The press release issued by both company follows:

On April 2, VSP Corporation, organisers of the 6^th SLS Expo HCM 2008 (Saigon Leather & Shoe Fair and Exhibition) announced that the fair had been cancelled unexpectedly due to some external difficulties beyond their control.

The next editions of Simac and Tanning Tech will take place from October 28-30, 2008, at the Bologna fairgrounds, Bologna, Italy.

The US Department of Agriculture have taken their National Animal Identification System (NAIS) one step further by announcing a draft business plan that shows how the NAIS will be integrated with other marketing programmes, such as the USDA Process Verified, the Quality Systems Assessment and the Non-Hormone Treated Cattle Programmes.

The TFL Group will invest in a new Research and Application Centre on the premises of TFL France SAS.in Huningue.

Satra will be holding three seminars in China: Royal Lagoon Hotel Dongguan on June 23, Holiday Inn Zhuhai on June 25 and Yeohwa Hotel Quanzhou on June 27. The subjects are: Slip resistance - new international standards will be explained and guidance given on design. 

Some 14,557 visitors registered at the 21^st Modacalzado and Iberpiel, March 7-9, with 18% coming from overseas. The international footwear and leather fashion trade fair, which took place within a climate of moderate optimism, brought together the autumn-winter 2008/09 collections of some 540 exhibiting companies at this edition. Some 423 of these companies were Spanish and 117 were foreign.

CTC Groupe, who provide quality assurance solutions for the footwear and leathergoods industries, are inviting leading industry clients to assist in two seminars during the fair APLF Materials, Manufacturing and Technology, March 31 to April 2, 2008, in Hong Kong.

The American Leather Chemists Association will hold its annual meeting from June 19-22 at the Grandover Resort and Conference Center in Greensboro, NC. The full technical programme will begin with the Wilson Memorial Lecture on Friday morning, June 20, and continue through Saturday with approximately twenty-three lectures being presented

Stahl are building an important extension of the International Leather Technical Centre at their headquarters in Waalwijk, the Netherlands. This investment in a laboratory extension is worth millions of euros and will enable a higher level of services to be provided to customers, including the possibility of developing new exclusive articles specific to their local needs to be formulated and applied under controlled conditions.

Namibian president Hifikepunye Pohamba recently inaugurated Brukarros Meat Processors Limited (BMP), a new business venture that will concentrate on slaughtering sheep and processing sheepskins for export. With a slaughtering capacity of 1,500/day, BMP took over from the Karas Abattoir and Tannery (KAT) that was on the brink of closure.

TFL has released its new ‘Colour Trends & Fashion Inspirations’ catalogue for the autumn/ winter 2009/10 season. The catalogue was once again created in association with well-known designers Carmen Rimoldi and Sergio Belloni.
The autumn/winter 2009/10 edition works on the premise that trends are only real trends when they become a style. Music represents the harmony of contrasts and in that way also stands for creating new fashion styles by mixing colours and contrasts. With such a personal touch, a new style can be created.
The colour preferences, general fashion considerations and styling directions in the brochure are divided up into three categories: Chic, Classic and Casual:
Chic shades are inspired by digital prints and holograms. This trend is dominated by solid and cold tones. Midnight blues and earth tones as well as deep pink are opposing and thus create a world of playful patterns. The interaction of functional blues and structured browns open out onto turbulent explorations that burst forth in stormy alchemies.

Huiding Leather, Beijing, are planning to open a tannery in Kenya now that the Chinese government seems bent on putting polluting tanneries out of business. China, the world's biggest buyer and processor of hides, is expected to implement new import duties on raw hides from May 1 and many Chinese tanneries are expected to relocate to Vietnam or India in the foreseeable future.

JBS SA have signed definitive agreements to purchase America's Smithfield Beef Group Inc for $565 million in cash and Australia's Tasman Group for $150 million in cash. Tasman operate six plants, three in Victoria and three in Tasmania.

The purchases came less than 24 hours after JBS announced they had purchased National Beef Packing.

According to Meatingplace.com the total cash and stock portion of the three purchases amounts to around $1.3 billion.

BASF SE have published their Report 2007, which for the first time combines the company's financial and sustainability reporting in a single publication. By integrating data related to the environment and social responsibility in their financial reporting, BASF are again playing a pioneering role. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), an independent organisation that has developed global guidelines to ensure transparent sustainability reporting, has already confirmed that the new report meets its highest application level, A+.

LANXESS AG significantly improved their earnings in 2007. EBITDA pre exceptionals rose by 6.5% to E719 million (2006: E675 million), close to the top end of the earnings guidance range of E700-E720 million. The EBITDA margin pre exceptionals moved ahead to 10.9%, compared to 9.7% in the previous year. ‘This positive earnings performance shows that LANXESS hasdefinitively achieved the turnaround. Last year we came even closer to the profitability level of our competitors', said LANXESS AG board of management chairman Axel C Heitmann.

Sales for 2007 came in at E6.61 billion, down 4.8% from the prior-year figure of E6.94 billion. After adjusting for currency and portfolio effects of 9.8%, however, sales growth was 5%.

A couple of seasons ago everything was loud, smooth and glossy, and preferably blue or kiwi. Then we had the 70s revival in orange and mauve - so what's next? The experts at LANXESS AG say they know the answer. This year the leather team at the speciality chemical company - one of the market leaders in leather chemistry and technology - has once again compiled a ‘leather trend book' to show tanneries what next season's trends are going to be, what colours, structures and surface touches will be in fashion in spring/summer 2009. And on the practical side, there are also formulations and processing suggestions.

Münzing have launched a brand-new interactive website to provide even closer contact with their clientele across the world. Visitors to the new site at www.munzing.com are able to select their region and language from English, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, German and Chinese. You will be connected with information regarding the company´s specialties as well as the latest information for the tanning industry. Using the option ‘leather and fur’ in the drop-down menu ‘industries’, gives access to downloadable technical data sheets. Product samples can also be ordered through the site.
Contacts can be found in the menu ‘sales and distributors,’ and new product announcements will be published in the ‘news and media’ section. A company profile and job vacancies complete the web-site.
Please note also that e-mail addresses have also changed: mc@munzing.com and the leather department e-mail address is now vkl@munzing.com.

The first edition of Expo Riva Schuh Middle East, the new event resulting from the collaboration between the Italian company Riva del Garda Fierecongressi Spa and the Sharjah Expo Centre, has just ended. Spread over a net surface area of 2,000 square metres, at the exhibition centre situated just a few kilometres outside of Dubai, companies representing 20 different countries presented 250 collections dedicated to footwear and leathergoods, from February 17 – 19, 2008.

The 32nd edition of the FIMEC international fair of leather, chemicals, components and accessories, equipment and machinery for footwear and tanneries will take place in Novo Hamburgo, from April 8 - 11, 2008. As in previous years BASF will present products for the leather industry.
This year the company is focusing on automotive leather. With the specific requirements of the leather industry in South America in mind, a new finishing concept has been developed that allows the customer more flexibility with fewer products. The range comprises resins, fillers, topcoats and compact products.

Hosting over 100 exhibitors from more than ten different countries, the event showcased the most innovative material suppliers to the industry. Spanning the world of materials (including leathers, synthetics and textiles) as well as components, technology and sourcing solutions, industry leaders such as 3M, Dae Woo and Milliken were present, alongside leading Italian tanneries and groundbreaking new innovators from across the globe.

The 14th edition of Le Cuir a Paris took place from February 19 – 22, 2008, featuring 236 exhibitors and covering a total surface area of 7 764 sqm, an increase of 21% on February 2007.
Exhibitors represented 15 countries. As usual, Italy provided the largest delegation with 56% of the exhibiting area, followed by France (23%) and Spain (10%). Brazil (4%) now has a regular presence at both spring/ summer and autumn/ winter editions of the event. 36 of the exhibiting companies were newcomers to the fair.

As the market for spring lamb moves towards Easter, the three remaining UK sheepskin tanners are urging farmers, abattoirs and hide markets to ‘Think skin as well as meat’.
Potentially, British Sheepskin products are the sheep industry's most valuable by-products, but the recent decline in the quality of woolskins being passed to tanneries is the most serious in living memory.

Minerva, one of Brazil’s leading meat packers, has announced the opening of a second tannery in São Paulo state. The move is part of the company’s leather division’s strategy of adding value.
The new plant is situated in Monte Aprazível and was chosen for its proximity to the slaughterhouses in Barretos, 150km away, and José Bonifácio (40km). It has capacity to process 2,500 hides per day into wet-blue, semi-finished and finished leather for automotive upholstery, furniture and footwear and leathergoods. The total operation will employ a workforce of more than 1,000 people.
With this new development the company expects to reach a total capacity of 7,000 hides per day with 10% wet-blue, 70% semi-finished and 20% finished products.
The company’s leather accounted for 4% of Brazilian leather exports in 2007, and this is expected to reach 7% in 2008.

On December 11th, ECCO Shoes Hong Kong was awarded The Diploma of the Danish Export Association and His Royal Highness Prince Henrik's Medal of Honour in recognition of their excellent performance and contribution to promoting Danish products internationally.

Smit & Zoon announced their acquisition of their Italian agent Sochive in Arzignano, Italy. The companies’ joint history goes back 25 years, with Sochive acting as the agent for Smit & Zoon, marketing their fatliquors and syntans in Italy. In the meantime, Sochive has also built up their own line of finishing chemicals which are sold in several countries. This acquisition will provide both companies new opportunities to combine their efforts and reach synergies to further improve service to Italian customers.

Vietnamese government sources reported in mid-February that more than 30,000 cattle had died in the northern mountain provinces of Ha Giang, Bac Can, Yen Bai, Thanh Hoa and Lang Son as a result of cold weather, according to the Vietnamese News Agency.

In a meeting chaired by Minister of State and chief executiveof the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan, Tariq Ikram, it was decided to reschedule the EXPO Pakistan to October, 2008. Expo will now be held from October 27-30, 2008, at Karachi Expo Centre.

For BASF, 2007 was another record year. Thanks to organic growth and the very positive development of the acquired businesses, BASF posted sales of almost €58 billion and income from operations (EBIT) before special items of more than €7.6 billion in 2007. ‘This is a great achievement', said Dr Jürgen Hambrecht, chairman of the board of executive directors of BASF SE. ‘Our employees can be particularly proud of this great achievement because the economic challenges have increased in recent months.' Hambrecht nevertheless remains confident with regard to the development of BASF's business in 2008.

LANXESS Ltd, British subsidiary of German specialty chemicals group LANXESS AG, has moved its head office to new premises in Newbury. ‘The office space in our new location is ideal for our needs in terms of size and function. It gives us an outstanding base for efficiently managing our business,’ said Kim O’Connor, managing director of LANXESS.

Czech footwear manufacturers produced 5.5 million pairs of footwear in 2007, up by nearly 6% year-on-year. They generated sales worth over Kc2.3 billion, similar to 2005 sales, Vlasta Mayerova of the Czech Footwear and Leather Producers Association(COKA) told the Czech News Agency (CTK).

A new booklet from Stahl presents the Leather and Technology Forecast for Spring and Summer 2009. Colourful as always, the booklet includes a selection of large leather samples combined with evocative illustrations from times past and present.

BASF are raising prices for leather chemicals worldwide. These increases are necessary because of higher energy costs and high raw material costs, which are still rising.

The U.S. Agriculture Department has recalled 143 million pounds of beef produced by a California plant accused of mistreating animals, marking the largest beef recall in the country's history.
The USDA described it as a Class 2 recall, meaning there was a low risk of illness.

Speciality chemicals group LANXESS AG have opened a new distribution company in Bratislava, Slovakia, for central and eastern Europe. Since February 15, they have been controlling all of their business activities in Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary via LANXESS Central Eastern Europe sro, based in the Slovakian capital Bratislava. The company will also maintain offices in Warsaw, Poland, and Budapest, Hungary.

Russia has authorised imports of beef from five more US processors. The plants owned by JBS-Swift & Co (Cactus, Texas, and Hyrum, Utah), Tyson Fresh Meats (Dakota City, Neb), and National Beef Packing Co (Dodge City, Kan, and Brawley, Calif).

In response to discussions with the Humane Society of the United States, Safeway have announced new policies to work with pork and poultry suppliers that prioritise animal welfare. Meatingplace.com say that the US retailer has begun an initiative to increase the amount of pork purchased from North American suppliers that are phasing out gestation crates to confine sows.

BASF say they are the world's first company to present a comprehensive carbon balance for their operations. The results show that BASF products can save three times more greenhouse gas emissions than the entire amount caused by the production and disposal of the company's products. ‘Climate change is one of the main challenges faced by society', said Eggert Voscherau, vice chairman of BASF SE. ‘We are facing up to this challenge and offering a wide range of solutions that help to protect the climate.'

China's Ministry of Agriculture reported in late January that heavy snow in central, eastern and southern China had resulted in heavy losses in the livestock sector, according to the Interfax news agency. Losses of up to 30% were recorded in some regions. First estimates of total losses in the agricultural sector were put at more than US$625 million.

Leather Wise are offering a two-day Intensive Leather Course on March 5-6, 2008.
Day 1 will focus on ‘Understanding the Raw Material and Suitability for End Products’.
The course is suitable for all product sectors including footwear, upholstery, garments and leathergoods.
Topics include:
Where does it all begin  - sourcing from farm to tanner?
Why do we inherit problems?
Why do we make leather from cowhide (... and other animals)?
Getting to grips with the jargon

The International Union of Shoe Industry Technicians (UITIC) is organising its International Footwear Congress to be held from October 16 -18, 2008 in Elche, Alicante, Spain. The Congress will focus on the advantages of technology in design, production and trading of footwear.
This important meeting of world-wide footwear professionals returns to Europe, after the successful edition in Tunisia in 2005. The Spanish city of Elche, traditionally known for its footwear industry will be hosting the XVI UITIC Congress. More than 300 representatives of the footwear industry are expected to attend the conference to debate on the advantages of technology for footwear trading and production processes.

It seems that the only place in the leather industry where business is growing is India. This was reflected in the number of exhibitors at the 23rd edition of IILF in Chennai. The fair has almost doubled in size since 2002 and grown by 1,000 sq m since last year. Increased demand for stands necessitated the opening of a new hall which was finished and inaugurated on the day before the fair opened. The new Hall 3 provided machinery manufacturers with a more even surface on which to demonstrate their latest tannery equipment. Two temporary hangars were also used and it was rumoured that a further 100 potential exhibitors had been turned away due to lack of space.

The Ethiopian Leather Fair was opened by the Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, on January 24, and was visited by ambassadors and ministers demonstrating the total commitment of the nation’s government to the development of the leather industry.

Yue Yuen Industrial (Holdings) Limited announced that in the year ended September 30, 2007 total turnover rose 12.5% year on year to approximately US$4,114.1 million, and net profit attributable to equity holders of the company increased 1.6% year on year to approximately US$359.4 million.

The group recorded steady growth in the footwear manufacturing operation, with turnover from athletic shoes and casual/outdoor shoes grew by 10.6% and 9.5% respectively. There was significant growth in the total number of shoes produced, which at 232.2 million pairs represented a rise of 18.2% compared with the previous year. The rate of growth was higher than the market average due to support of existing customers and the addition of new clients. During the year under review, the group installed 25 new production lines, evenly spread among the three production bases (mainland China, Vietnam and Indonesia), taking the total number of lines to 398. Steady growth in turnover was experienced in each geographical market, and distribution was more balanced among the three major markets – the US, Asia and Europe. Turnover growth was particularly strong in the emerging market regions such as South America and Asia with surging retail sales in the greater China region driving the rise recorded in the latter.

Based on the success of the five-month ‘compact course in leather technology’ conducted in English, introduced in 1999, LGR now offers their two-year training course in English. This first course will commence in September 2008 as a response to increasing globalization in the leather business and to enable more international candidates to study at Reutlingen.

Having discontinued cattle slaughter at their Emporia processing facility in Kansas, Tyson Foods say they are increasingly accepting of the realities of what has become a bleak beef market. The company's chief executive officer, Dick Bond, told Meatingplace.com that Tyson's move reflects what he believes is a permanent change to the industry's landscape.

Russia's Federal Veterinarian and Phytosanitary Control Service (Rosselkhoznadzor) sent back more than 40 tonnes of imported Danish-made pig skins which arrived from Germany in late January, according to the Interfax news agency. Inspectors discovered that the pig skin, seized by the Rosselkhoznadzor office in the Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad, had been produced at a facility in Denmark that is not allowed to export products to Russia.

Competition from the United States in Japan and South Korea will help force beef exports from Australia to drop by about 5.5% this year. According to Meatingplace.com, total shipments of beef and veal are projected to fall to 890,000 metric tons, compared with last year's 941,000 tons and a record 953,900 tons in 2006, citing Meat & Livestock Australia's latest cattle and sheep industry projections report.

The Indian Council for Leather Exports annual award ceremony was held on January 31 at the Chennai Trade Centre. Among the award winners, representatives of the Kanpur tanning clusters did particularly well.

Chairman of CLE, Mukhtarul Amin, stated that exports of leather and leather products reached an all time high of US$ 2.98 billion in 2006-07, up 8.33% on the previous year. The Indian leather sector is the country’s 8th largest foreign exchange earner. A total of 62 companies received awards in recognition of their export efforts in the leather and leather products sectors.
Awards were presented by chief guest Dr V Krishnamurthy, chairman of the national manufacturing competitiveness council, to the following companies:

Clariant will participate in ANPIC 2008 – the fair of the Americas – from February 14–17 at Poliforum Exhibition Center, León, Mexico. Visitors are invited to the stand where the company will show autumn-winter leather trends as well as new challenges for the retanning of chrome-free leathers to meet the highest ecological and aesthetic standards and properties. In addition examples of profitable upgrading techniques for higher cutting yields will be displayed plus their range of superior dyes.
Under the motto ‘Sense the difference. Feel the fashion’  Clariant will show its latest fashion collection inspired by surprising colours and styles on different leathers, presenting seasonal statements used in practical applications.

According to Meatingplace.com, the European Union has yet to authorize any Brazilian farms to export beef to the EU under new rules that go into effect on January 31. ‘At this stage there will be no holdings authorized to export to the EU', EU Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou told reporters. ‘Of course, this can change in the next few days. But as of January 31, there will be no list.'

Stahl have recently opened a brand new, purpose-designed application laboratory in Shanghai for the specific purpose of enhancing the technical service provided to customers in China. Stahl have long recognised the importance of the China market. Following on from the building of their new manufacturing plant which began production in Suzhou in 2006, the establishment of a number of application facilities based in close proximity to their customers, of which Shanghai is the first, has become a strategic necessity.

As from January 1, 2008, TFL have moved their operative business to SK Chemtrade Services (Pty) Ltd (SKC), in Johannesburg, South Africa. SKC have been successfully operating as TFL's official agent/distributor since 2001 in the following territories: Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Accordingly, the choice of SKC as TFL's business partner in South Africa makes pragmatic sense.

Tyson Foods will cease beef slaughter operations at their Emporia, Kansas, facility within the next few weeks, citing continued overcapacity in the industry and a view that the US cattle supply will not expand any time soon. ‘We estimate the current slaughter overcapacity in the industry to be between 10,000 and 14,000 head of cattle per day', Tyson CEO and president Dick Bond said in a statement.

Rohm and Haas Company have reported fourth quarter 2007 sales of $2,343 million, a 16% increase over the same period in 2006, reflecting record sales for the company. For full-year 2007, the company reported sales of $8,897 million, an 8% increase over 2006, and earnings from continuing operations of $660 million.

The American Oil Chemists´ Society (AOCS) will be hosting their 99th Annual Meeting and Expo from May 18-21, 2008, in Seattle, Washington, USA.

According to the Ostrich Resources Newsletter, an Iranian film entitled: The song of Sparrows, was presented to the 58th Berlin International Film Festival.

A Greenpeace International report released earlier this month places much of the blame for rising greenhouse gas emissions on agriculture - and specifically on livestock. According the Meatingplace.com, what the report calls 'enteric fermentation' in ruminant animals contributes the largest amount, about 60%, to global methane emissions from agriculture (the other 40% being generated by rice cultivation and manure). In addition, cultivated acreage releases more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than does land used for grazing. The need to grow crops to feed livestock, then, also contributes greenhouse gasses, the report says. 

The Ontario government has allotted C$14 million in funding for provincial slaughterhouses (C$9 million) and deadstock collection services (C$5 million) to help them comply with Canada's enhanced ruminant-to-ruminant feed ban introduced in July 2007. Meatingplace.com say that the stricter requirements, which cover handling, transport and disposal of specified risk materials, are aimed at keeping SRMs out of the feed chain. The rules apply to cattle producers, slaughter plants, renderers, feed manufacturers and fertilizer and pet food plants.

Coach Inc, US manufacturers of high-end bags and accessories, reported a higher quarterly profit yesterday and shares rose on results better than some had feared. They affirmed their earnings forecast for the fiscal year but trimmed full-year sales outlook due to uncertainty among consumers. But even lowered growth is better than many peers, said one analyst.

On January 30, 2008, the German environmental minister Sigmar Gabriel,  together with a German environmental delegation, will be visiting Guangzhou Tantec Leather ltd. The German environmental minister has shown great interest in the Lite leather production system and wants to visit the production site to better understand and support the environmentally conscious production system.

Nguyen Thi Tong, general secretary of the Vietnam Leather and Footwear Association (Lefaso), has said that Vietnam's leather and footwear sector is competing well in quality terms with products from other countries, according to the Vietnamese News Agency.

Italian machinery providers Cartigliano have unveiled their new R&D department located in Cartigliano, VI, Italy. The new facility which covers an area of more than 1,500 sq m, involved an investment of over €2.5 million, proof that Cartigliano believe in the future of tannery innovation.
The site offers the opportunity to test the most advanced drying, conditioning and staking systems for any kind of leathers or skins, for varying end uses.
This facility is at the disposal of tanners, completely free of charge. The company are particularly keen for tanners to conduct trials using the ‘Just in Time Line’ which offers the most modern technology in terms of quality, yield gain and consistency.
All of the installed machines can be used individually or connected in sequence to form automatic lines of production able to process for example 100 hides or 200 sides per hour or 600 sheepskins/ hour.

The Kasen Board has informed the company’s shareholders that it expects that unaudited consolidated net profit for the year ended December 31, 2007, will show a significant decline compared with the same period of the previous year.
The information contained in this announcement is only a preliminary estimate performed by the management of the Company and results for the year to 31 December 2007 are still being finalized.

ChimontGroup, a leading Italian tanning chemicals company, will be exhibiting at the Anpic fair to be held from 14-17 February. Anpic, the international fair for the footwear manufacturing industry, will take place in Léon, Mexico, and represents an important showcase for ChimontGroup’s new products which have enjoyed enormous success both in Italy and overseas.

Between March 7-9, Feria de Madrid will host the twenty-first edition of Modaalzado + Iberpiel, the International Footwear and Leather Fashion Trade Fair. This fair, which is one of the most important of its kind in Europe and constitutes the only event for the industry in Spain, offers professionals an insight into the key footwear, leather bag and accessory fashion trends each season, based on the presentations and collections of the prestigious participating brands. 

Sourcing Leather with Confidence, an international conference scheduled to take place during the Asia Pacific Leather Fair in Hong Kong on 1 April 2008, is an ideal event for those selling leather, supplying to the leather industry or buying leather products and footwear in Asia.

BKS Leathers are providing James Toseland with a race suit for his 2008 MotoGP campaign.
Leading British MotoGP contender James Toseland will make history on his debut in the world’s premier motorcycle racing championship by wearing a British leathers brand.
The 27-year-old will be the only rider worldwide supported by BKS – a prestigious premium leathers brand that was recently acquired by the Frank Thomas Group.
 Toseland will be the first professional motorcycle racer ever in the history of BKS to wear the company’s leathers. The double World Superbike Champion has had a large amount of input into the fit and design aspects of his suit.


BKS was established in 1986 and has since supplied custom suits for celebrities including Robbie Williams, Daniel Day Lewis and Prince William. The leathers are renowned for their safety aspects and were the first ever to win CE approval. The quality of BKS leathers is also well-known within the industry and only the best materials – including kangaroo hide and stingray skin – are used in their manufacture.


According to meatingplace.com, the long-running saga of the failed Mississippi meat processing plant seems finally to be nearing a happy ending. Houston, Texas-based Windsor Quality Food Co have begun renovations on the 140,000 square-foot facility in Oakland (Miss) and expect to begin production in the second half of the year.

Vietnam expects to earn US$4.5 billion from footwear exports this year, an increase of 15.4% over last year, according to the Viet Nam Leather and Footwear Association (Lefaso).  The association said the country's chief export markets are the US, the EU, Japan, Canada and Australia. However, it said there was great potential for Vietnamese footwear products in Africa, Southern Asia and Eastern Europe where competition is not so intense and regulations are less stringent.

France's Rostaing Vietnam have recently put into operation a new tannery in the Long Thanh industrial park in the southern Vietnamese province of Dong Nai, according to the Vietnamese News Agency.

APLF MM&T 2008, the premier international leather, materials and components exhibition, opens in Hong Kong on 31 March and will run until 2 April. APLF - MM&T has attracted 58 first-time exhibitors (as of 8 January 2008), bringing an injection of fresh interest for buyers, the vast majority of whom have attended APLF - MM&T for many years.

In 2007, BASF bought back shares for €1.9 billion as part of their ongoing share buyback programme. A total of approximately 21.5 million shares were repurchased at an average price of €88.35. This corresponds to 4.3% of the company's share capital. The €3 billion buyback program is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2008. Taking the shares bought back into account, the weighted average used for calculating earnings per share for 2007 is 488,892,917 shares.

Processing of raw hides in Bangladesh is facing a setback due to an acute shortage of chemicals. Tanners fear about 40% of the country's total raw hides and skins, collected during the Eid-ul-Azha might decompose as many factories have not started processing them into wet-blue due to a shortage of ammonium sulfate.

ion-mask, the revolutionary super-hydrophobic treatment from P2i Ltd, Oxford, UK, has won the functional Sportswear category in the 2008 ISPO BrandNew Awards. Originally developed to protect soldiers from chemical attack, ion-mask applies a protective layer, just nanometres thick, over the entire surface of the item being treated by means of an ionised gas or ‘plasma'.

The president of the Valencian Government, Francisco Camps, visited the Technological Institute of Footwear and Related Industries (INESCOP) to preside over the official opening of new facilities.
The Institute’s expansion will add an extra 2,000m2 to the existing 4,000m2 and allow Inescop to better serve the footwear sector, housing new areas of research including bio-technology, bio-adhesives, environmental issues, as well as new pilot plants.
The new buildings came at a cost of €900,000, of which €630,000 was contributed by the Valencian Executive and the European Social Fund.
The opening ceremony was attended by delegations from the Valencian Government, representatives from different footwear associations, including Rafael Calvo, president of FICE (Federation of Spanish Footwear Industries), and José Juan Sanchís, president of the Elda and Valencia shoe industries association.

Material Lab, Johnson Tiles’ design resource centre in central London, has announced a new partnership with Italian based high quality leather flooring manufacturers, inpelle, coinciding with its second anniversary.

According to Meatingplace.com, Tyson Foods are phasing in a new cattle pricing system designed to reward producers of animals that are not too heavy. Customers have consistently expressed concern about excessive piece weights from heavy carcases', the company said in a written statement. ‘These beef subprimals are subsequently difficult to portion and merchandize.'

When BA (Hons) Fashion (Footwear and Accessories) Year 3 student Jody Parchment planned her final year collection entitled ‘Nature’s Baroque’, she knew she needed a special type of thin leather for her bags, shoes, gloves and belts.
Liaising with the University’s School of Applied Sciences, well known for its international expertise in leather through the British School of Leather Technology (BSLT), a special type of leather – hair sheep – was identified as the most suitable raw material for her project. The School of Applied Sciences secured a donation of 24 Ethiopian hair sheep skins from Pittards, a Yeovil-based supplier of high performance leather to the world’s leading brands of gloves, shoes, luxury leathergoods and sports equipment.

Sadesa is the first tannery in the world to be awarded the gold rating in the Leather Working Group’s (LWG) environmental audit. LWG is an organization that establishes environmental standards for the footwear leather industry.
In October 2007, the Sadesa-operated plant in Thailand was subjected to a rigorous environmental audit by the Leather Working Group which is supported by the BLC (British Leather Technology Centre) and composed of the major tanneries and worldwide footwear brands, such as Nike, adidas and Clarks.

The conversion of BASF Aktiengesellschaft into a European Company (Societas Europaea) was officially completed on January 14, 2008,  with the entry of the name in the commercial register of the Ludwigshafen district court. As of that date, the company's name is BASF SE. The conversion process took less than twelve months.

Industry leaders, such as 3M, Dae Woo and Emtex, will be out in force at the inaugural Materials at WSA Expo & Conference, Las Vegas (February 19-21).  They will sit alongside innovators from across the globe, which have never before been seen in Europe or America.