State of Brazilian leather exports
The Brazilian leather sector entered 2014 exporting $ 200 million, and according to the Department of Intelligence of the Centre for the Brazilian Tanning Industries (CICB), and with preliminary data from the Department of Foreign Trade - Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade (MDIC), the value registered in January alone represents an increase of 21.3% compared to January 2013.
CICB executive president José Fernando Bello predicts a 2014 with both challenges and expectations for the Brazilian leather sector since as of January 1, Brazil is out of the Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP), which may lead to a monetary loss of 3.5%; its exclusion had already worked against Brazilian exporters at the end of 2013. According to Bello, European clients, who are the major buyers of Brazilian leather, have already reduced orders.
So to overcome such challenges and rekindle the importance of Brazilian leather in the international market, CICB is promoting a series of actions. In the first trimester, there will be Brazilian participation at Le Cuir A Paris next week, at Fimec, and APLF MM&T in Hong Kong. And between March 31 and April 2, Brazil will be the Focus Country, promoting a series of communications and marketing actions at an event that gathers more than 20,000 leather buyers each year.
With such strategies and relying on global leather demand, Bello estimates possibility an increase of up to 10% in Brazilian exports for 2014.
