Kills were running at fairly high levels during March and early April and demand continued to outstrip supply. Italian tanners were particularly active as they appeared to have been caught unawares by the big purchases made by Chinese tanners.

At Hong Kong the talk was all about the huge inventories amassed by Chinese tanners to beat the new 14% tax imposed by the government and expected to apply to deliveries some time during the summer.

However, in Bologna the feeling was that demand had peaked and the market was definitely poised to deflate, although only by a little. The other suggestion at Bologna was that it is about time that the Italians introduced an efficient method of organising the registration and issuing of passes as the chaos on the first morning of the fair appears to be getting worse.

Although kills in Ireland are beginning their seasonal decline, currency movements, ie the weakening US dollar, are expected to put further pressure on prices which will also trigger the Italian claim season which is due to start soon.

It appears that the overpaying for green hides may be slowly coming to an end as large amounts of money have been handed to abattoirs for the past couple of months. There were slight decreases in green prices in Ireland at the end of April and it was expected that this would spread to the UK as well. A softening market would accelerate this trend.

Prices at the end of April were as follows:

36kg+…………………………………………………………… 86p

31/35.5……………………………………………………………. 97p

26/30.5 ……………………………………………………….. 97p

22/25.5…………………………………………………………… 1.05

Cows were also steady at £27 per hide.

Old season hoggets came under pressure as Chinese tanners ordered and then cancelled before and during the Hong Kong fair. There was some interest in old season doubleface but there was not much of it around.

There appeared to be a lot of interest in new season doubleface from the Chinese with many promising to buy large quantities. However, this was from the same people who cancelled outstanding orders. Fellmongers went for £1.75 ex yard and doubleface £2.50 ex yard.