A difficult month for traders

Consequently hide processors have a lot of stock, particularly in the 46kg+ range. At a time when demand has slumped, the situation is further complicated by the seasonal fall in hide weights as the winter coat begins to disappear and the ambient temperature rises, resulting in increased weight loss in salted hides.

Finally the currency fluctuations have combined with all of the above to give all hide processors in Ireland a torrid time. As the soothsayer would have said in ancient times, woe, woe and thrice woe.

The Bologna fair was rife with rumours of Italian tanners suffering from low to zero order books and looking for extended payment terms. The croupon cutters complained about the fall in the value of shoulders and tanners complained about the 10% drop in the split price. Even the Americans were admitting that their market is down.

Is there blood on the streets? The answer is no. Why? Because the market, as always, kicks into action. Green prices in Ireland are back 10% and need to come back another 10% to return hide salting to profitability. The timing for this will depend upon the stubbornness of the Irish hide dealers which means that it will take 3-4 weeks longer than it should.

As a consequence of the above, prices fell to the following levels at the end of April:

36kg+ ……...................................................... 83p

31/35.5 …...................................................…. 92p

26/30.5 …….................................................. £1.02

22/25.5 …..................................................… £1.10

and cows fell to £28.50.

New season lambskins came on to the market in April with the first load reported sold to Türkiye at £4.35 delivered. However, the political instability witnessed in Istanbul at the end of April was reported to have resulted in several cancellations and the price is expected to drop below £4.

Fellmongering hoggets were steady at £1.80 - £2.20

Printer friendly version

Email this article to a friend