Bursa leather exports rising

Published: 31 May, 2004

Asked several years ago about leather exports, the general coordinator of Bursa's tannery tone, Muhsin Ozyenice, said they had no significant exports to report. But leather is now being incorporated in Bursa's active exporting trend. The 2004 first quarter (January to March) exports of garments and finished leather totalled $186,500.

A small beginning, but leather finds itself in buoyant industrial company in this north-western Turkish city, where the automotive, textiles (and auxiliary dyeing and printing industries) add $4 or $5 billion annually to export totals.

About 120 tanners operate in Bursa's leather processing zone, which dates back to the 1930s.