In recent years many involved in the leather industry have taken great
strides to become more responsible global citizens. These strides are
positive for the industry as well as for those individual companies that
have taken action to make change. Many tanners have made
investments in facilities, equipment and process. As importantly, our
industry must continue to make change beyond bricks and mortar and
capital investment. We must make areas such as conservation,
efficiencies of resources, and waste stream management part of our
every day philosophies.

Welcome to a special ‘environment’ edition of this publication.
Environmental issues dominate our industry as they do in many other indus-
trial sectors. The environment now touches every aspect of our lifestyles
from recycling bottles to low energy household appliances and so on.
Being a labour intensive business, many tanneries these days are located
in developing countries where overall costs can be kept down, including
environmental costs. In developed countries tanners have been used to tight
environmental controls for some time, particularly on waste treatment,
and pay a financial price for compliance, which has to be passed on to the
customer.

Further comment from Elton Hurlow, president of the International Union of Leather Technologists and Chemists Societies (IULTCS) following on from the guest column on page 5

The leather trade is used to taking knocks. Not just because of the recession but the relentless pursuit by pressure groups from animal rights to extreme environmentalists. The shock of the Amazon report from Greenpeace was perhaps the final indicator that all is not well with our industry. We leather people have never worried too much. Consumers love leather and well over 95% is a by-product of the meat and dairy industry. What is more, historically leather has had no viable substitutes in many of its major end uses. Now that high performance textiles, faux leather, luxury fabrics and plastics are so good, leather can be replaced. Consequently the industry needs to find a new powerful voice. Failure to do so will condemn leather to being a mass produced low priced commodity.

The ACLE held in Shanghai at the beginning of September was a great opportunity for the industry to get together and get a feeling for the market in Asia, particularly China. As expected the show was busy and well organised but interestingly lacked the international flavour of the APLF. Stands from India, Italy and Brazil for example were scarce. It is clear that the ACLE is the show for China while the APLF remains the international platform in Asia.

The Taiwanese leather sector has a history of more than 60 years and today there are around 60 tanneries in the country. Since the 1990s, Taiwanese tanneries have started to relocate abroad, establishing their factories and investing in Thailand, Mainland China and Vietnam. Nowadays, there are more than 40 Taiwanese owned tanneries established in these countries. The production capacity of all Taiwanese tanneries is about 45-60 million square feet per month, of which 80% of all leathers are supplied to the well-known international branded footwear makers.

Much coverage in this edition of the magazine is given over to the powerful and influential people, organisations and companies both within and outside the tanning industry. For the first time in our industry we present the Leather International Power List Top 20 featuring those who are considered to be 20 of the most influential and successful people within our industry (see page 24).

The 2007 International Leather Forum (ILF), which took place in Paris, was unprecedented as it brought together in one room representatives of the complete leather value-chain – hide dealers, tanners, chemical and equipment suppliers, media, industry organisations and retail brands. The leaders of industry were there to discuss industry needs in a positive way. Many thought this debate useful as it helped get issues on the table. It also allowed perspective, as representatives of different parts of the supply chain gave their viewpoint and listened to others. There is a need to continue this debate by all actors within the value-chain.

Many retailers seem to be permanently on sale at the moment. They drift from mid season to end of season and I’ve even seen new season sales! A sign of the recessionary times that we live in I suppose.

With lower sales volumes (40-50% down), REACH, competition from lower cost countries, the global financial crisis and ever increasing environmental pressures; European tanners are fighting many battles to remain in business at the moment. This is just a summary of the present situation for the European tanning industry. Many other major business segments have of course also been hit in a similar way, for example the automotive industry. The difference is that these larger lines of business, partly due to their size and partly due to very sophisticated lobbying organisations at EU level as well as at national level, have access to subsidies and favourable loans.

Love them or hate them, lawyers have been become an everyday part of the international leather business. As with any profession some have the best intentions for us while others seem set on an agenda of exploiting loopholes and going after easy targets to make a quick buck. Added to this, certain elements of the press look to sensationalise stories without properly looking at the science or background and often tanners are made to look like nasty polluters.

The Brazilian leather industry is one of the engines of the local economy and its importance may be evaluated by the amount of foreign currency entering the country from leather exports (US$1.8 billion in 2008), a contribution of more than 7% to the Brazilian trade balance as well as 50,000 jobs.

One thing I can say about a recession is that it generates lots of editorial copy and brings to the surface new and often radical opinions. There seems to be so much going on at the moment from plant closures, job losses, credit issues, dimethyl fumarate and a crisis among hide and skin suppliers following a collapse in prices. All this and more is covered in this month’s edition of the magazine.
Firstly, however, I would like to welcome Luiz Bittencourt, president, Center for the Brazilian tanning industry (CICB), as our first official guest columnist. From now on we will be inviting leading tanners, buyers and brands, major industry association and organisations, academic institutions and tannery suppliers to add their personal opinion on a particular hot topic of the moment. We hope that this will stimulate discussion and debate within the industry, which in turn may lead to change and benefit for all.

Depending on your personal character you might be the sort of person who looks at a half full glass of water (or maybe beer or wine would be a better analogy) and think in one of two ways. If you think to yourself my glass is half full you may be an optimistic person or you may think that my glass is half empty and you may be a more pessimistic type.

I would also like to take this opportunity to wish all our readers a happy, healthy and prosperous 2009. I realize that this is a somewhat optimistic hope but I really do believe in the power of positive thought. It is also the time for me to say a fond farewell. After 34 years with LEATHER International I am about to retire and this will be the last edition of the magazine that will bear my name as editor.

The ACLE in Shanghai took place soon after the conclusion of the Olympic Games but shortly before the Paralympics so was still subjected to the heightened security insisted on by the Chinese authorities. Things should settle down now but attendance at the fair was dampened by visa problems and the fact that Ramadan began immediately prior to the show.

As I write this the world’s eyes are on the Olympic Games in Beijing and I am waiting hopefully for my Chinese visa so that I can attend the ACLE.
I have just received a charming message from Dr Venkatasubramanian Sivakumar who thanks me for apologising for Britain’s past mistreatment of his countrymen. I wrote that this period in India’s history had engendered great tolerance among the Indian people which was part of the glue that holds the Union of India together.

In recent weeks, various chemicals companies have been announcing price increases and just when it looked as if things couldn't get much worse for Chinese tanners, an old story about toxic leather sofas made in China hit the headlines. While the events were old news, the newspaper coverage was new and a law firm is asking for people to come forward if they feel they have a legal claim for damages.

India and China are the giants of the leather industry, both countries having witnessed huge growth in leather processing over the past few years. While there are similarities between the two countries it is the differences which are most notable. For India tanning is a traditional industry and the country has an extensive livestock base.

This month Sam Setter writes in his Limeblast in support of European technology which he believes is the best in the world. However, he goes as far as to say that products
manufactured by overseas subsidiaries of the European makers are not as good as those produced by them at home.
I know of a number of European organisations who would strongly take issue with this contention and I feel compelled to speak on their behalf.

last month I wrote about the growing importance of fair trade, along with humanitarian concerns and consideration for the environment. Fortunately these issues will not go away although they are bound to suffer from various setbacks. In the wake of controversy surrounding animal abuse at Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co, the Animal Welfare Institute has released a report analysing humane slaughter enforcement at US meat processing plants over a five-year period from 2002 through to 2007.
As a result of their investigation, AWI concluded that ensuring animals raised for food are handled and slaughtered in a humane manner is a low priority of US agricultural enforcement agencies and of the US animal agriculture industry.

There is a growing trend for the big brands, Tate & Lyall sugar for instance, to get behind the concept of Fair Trade, ensuring that poorly paid workers in developing countries get a better deal for their labours.

I have recently returned from the ACLE in Shanghai and whether or not business was conducted and how much depended on who you were talking to. The fair is a good size, has lots of visitors and is well organised but leather trade has its ups and downs as everyone knows.

There can be no doubt that environmental issues are a hot topic currently.Shortly after Xu Yong,CLIA honorary chairman,announced that the target for cutting the total discharge of major pollutants under the eleventh five-year plan for Chinese industry had been set at 10%,it was reported that the head of EPA (the special Anti Pollution Police) in Wenzhou had been arrested for turning a blind eye on illegal discharge.

I hate politics but there is no avoiding the fact that they affect all aspects of life and trade in one way or another. Take the US beef export situation. US politicians are currently trying to get a resumption of unrestricted beef exports into South Korea. If South Korea refuses to play ball, the proposed free trade agreement will not be put forward to Congress.

At about the same time that Alois G Püntener was delivering his address to the IULTCS Congress on the challenge of REACH for chemicals and also leather imports into the European community, the proposals became law. This was a year and a few days later than originally anticipated.

This month we are focusing once more on India as the country sets itself an incredible target of 20% annual growth to the year 2010 when it hopes to achieve US$7 billion in leather and related exports against a current projected level of $3 billion and a growth rate for 2006/7 of 9.24%.

When attempting to gauge the success or otherwise of the latest Tanning Tech in Bologna it is first necessary to put the various exhibitions into context. Traditionally Tanning Tech has been held alongside the autumn edition of Lineapelle which is by far the bigger of the two biannual events. The two shows combined led to a full fairground with gridlocked car parks, traffic jams, long taxi queues and a shortage of hotel accommodation.

While studying psychology I was told that Charles Darwin's assertion that it was the survival of the fittest was untrue and that those who survive are those who are able to adapt to changing circumstances and environment.

A recent edition of la conceria, the Italian tanners' magazine, asks the question: What is the strategy of the giant chemicals plants when it comes to trade fairs? Their answer is: 'Simple: don't do them. Tanning Tech has been abandoned. The only fairs that are interesting (and then only a little) are those in Asia, as long as they are classed as regional.'

Normally at this time of year, we would just have arrived back from Tanning Tech in Bologna, Italy. News from the recent edition of Lineapelle suggests that visitor numbers were well down from last October. One visitor writes: 'If you were there, you'd have seen a Tuesday morning with empty halls. Wednesday saw a reasonable amount of visitors but far below last year's figures. Nevertheless this is still a hugely important fair.'

Normally at this time of year, we would just have arrived back from Tanning Tech in Bologna, Italy. News from the recent edition of Lineapelle suggests that visitor numbers were well down from last October. One visitor writes: 'If you were there, you'd have seen a Tuesday morning with empty halls. Wednesday saw a reasonable amount of visitors but far below last year's figures. Nevertheless this is still a hugely important fair.'

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.

Italian Tanners' Association UNIC, at their general meeting on June 16 in Viareggio had to face the unpalletable fact that in 2005 Italian tanners lost 3.1% of their revenue and 2% of production volume. This was partly due to the strong euro. However, according to the meeting the market is recovering and investments are no longer being postponed. The mood was for members to come together to take steps forward.

News from around the world is as much coloured by the onset of the new Chinese import regulations as it is by the anti-dumping measures being levied by the EU against footwear from China and Vietnam. Many have expressed their disquiet about the import tariffs which are being introduced on a sliding scale and which will, ultimately, hit the people who can least afford it: the poorly paid workers in China and Vietnam.