Hide, skin leather exports continue setting records
August 12, 2014 | 03:26 PM
U.S. hide, skin and leather exports totalled $1.43 billion through June, but the industry is plagued by lower cattle numbers, the U.S. Hide, Skin and Leather Association reported today.
These include cattle hides, pig skins, and semi-processed wet blue leather products (hides that have undergone the first stages of leather tanning.)
Based on statistics released last week by the Agriculture Department, this represents a 6.7 percent increase over the $1.34 billion exported during the same period in 2013.
U.S. hides and skins companies — including producers, processors, brokers and dealers — regularly export more than 90 percent of total U.S. production, the association noted. China is by far the biggest purchaser of cattle products while Mexico is the largest importer of pig and sow skins used largely to make leather for shoe linings.
“The hide, skin and leather industry in the U.S. continues to cement its reputation as an agricultural export engine, despite ongoing challenges related to cattle hide supplies, pig skin market access barriers, and uncertain conditions in key leather manufacturing sectors,” said Stephen Sothmann, president of the U.S. Hide, Skin and Leather Association. “It is a testament to the resilience and ingenuity of U.S. firms.”
▪ United States Hide, Skin and Leather Association
These include cattle hides, pig skins, and semi-processed wet blue leather products (hides that have undergone the first stages of leather tanning.)
Based on statistics released last week by the Agriculture Department, this represents a 6.7 percent increase over the $1.34 billion exported during the same period in 2013.
U.S. hides and skins companies — including producers, processors, brokers and dealers — regularly export more than 90 percent of total U.S. production, the association noted. China is by far the biggest purchaser of cattle products while Mexico is the largest importer of pig and sow skins used largely to make leather for shoe linings.
“The hide, skin and leather industry in the U.S. continues to cement its reputation as an agricultural export engine, despite ongoing challenges related to cattle hide supplies, pig skin market access barriers, and uncertain conditions in key leather manufacturing sectors,” said Stephen Sothmann, president of the U.S. Hide, Skin and Leather Association. “It is a testament to the resilience and ingenuity of U.S. firms.”
▪ United States Hide, Skin and Leather Association