The product offers numerous advantages: ease of application lowers the cost of production and environmental impact is eliminated. W Thane X Top has been proven highly resistant by both wet and dry flexometer testing, and gives the brilliance of refinishes such as patent and abraded, achieving an extraordinary lustre without altering the characteristic softness of the leather.

The International Trade Centre (a UN technical cooperation agency) has produced a comprehensive online reference guide to each aspect of the leather industry. The guidebook, published on the Leatherline website: [http://www.intracen.org/leatherline/leather_guide.htm], has been set up with the technical help of ITC experts but is open ended and will henceforth be based on the participation of individuals and organisations around the world willing to share their experience and knowledge.

Introduction

With the recently developed 'link-lock'1 theory the 'link' part of the reaction concerns the primary reactant, the main component that reacts directly with the collagen. All tanning reactions exhibit this part of the mechanism, which may involve any or all types of reaction: hydrogen bonding, hydrophobic bonding, electrostatic interaction and covalent bonding. The effects are twofold:

1. Introduction

The term 'ageing' refers to the combination of manifestations, both physical and organoleptic, that occur in leather after manufacture, particularly over time. R Segura1 found that one of these manifestations is yellowing, which may arise from the fatliquors used and/or synthetic retanning agents. In the case of fatliquors, the best test is that of temperature, while retanning agents are more likely to be affected by ultraviolet light.

Introduction

Since the early 1900s, soaking was regarded as an equilibrium process. Practitioners and scientists1,2,3,4 of the time recognized the importance of a thorough soak for the proper rehydration of hides and skins and soaking for two to three days was the norm. During the eighties, new insight provided improvements that promised faster and more effective soaking. In particular, Bienkiewicz5 and Alexander6 et al began to unravel the biochemistry of the non-collagen impurities that inhibit isolation of collagen for tanning. Identification of the glycosaminoglycans that retard the opening up process has led to a more direct approach to removal of these impurities.

The Problem

Barbed wire fencing is the most common cause of the thin scratches and scars affecting the grain surface of many cattle hides around the world. It is possibly the single most common cause of downgrading in the leather industry.

The big slowdown in Ireland continued throughout June and it is anticipated to last well into August. Cattle weights for the carcases were lower resulting in a lighter average weight for hides.

During the four-week period ended June 23, 2007, Federally Inspected Slaughter showed an average weekly kill of 678,750, only slightly up from the 677,000 of our previous report. This compares with an average of 685,750 in the same period the previous year and represents a 1.9% increase over 2006.

With the new budget announcements for the year 2007-2008 come new export duties in East Africa. The duty on raw has been increased from 20-40% in Kenya and from US$0.09 to US$0.25 per kg in Uganda. Duty remains the same in Tanzania (where it was already high at 30%).

Again in the month of May and well into June, most packers as well as processors produced more hides than they managed to sell. This situation helped to push prices steadily lower, week by week on the most voluminous selections.

One of the saddest things about re-reading the various issues of the magazine is seeing how many well-known names have slipped from our grasp. Of course, some are still around under different guises: Bayer as LANXESS, for example. Other long-term survivors include BASF (1865), Clayton of Chesterfield (1840), Eagle Ottawa (1865), Heusch (1850), Münzing (1830), Colomer (18th century), Andrew Muirhead & Son (1883), Pittards (1826) and Smit & Zoon (1821).

Jean-Luc Chirat, formerly with Mercier Freres in France and in recent years living in China where among other things he and his wife represented Leather International, died suddenly earlier this year. His Chinese wife Zhao Xiao Yan (Shelley) continues to represent us.

Guy (Buzz) Grove of Twin City Hide Co, died at home in his sleep. Buzz was a pioneer in many aspects of hide processing and marketing. His industry leadership led to his being honoured by the USHSLA in 2004 by his election to their Hall of Fame. He built Twin City Hide from a small business salt packing hides that was started by his father to become one of the largest hide processors in the US. He was innovative in establishing a wet-blue tannery next to his hide plant as well.   

Chris Flear, formerly with Lincoln Hide and Skin Co Ltd, died earlier this year. He was a past president of the National Federation of Hides & Skins Markets and always supported the Fellmongers Association annual dinner. He was expected at the dinner in 2006 but simply never arrived. According to his long-term friend C P (Patrick) Hird he never recovered from the failure of his company.

This year's graduates from the BSLT received their awards at a ceremony held on June 12 at Leathersellers Hall in London. The following prizes were awarded to Graduates of the BSc programme: 1st prize: Tanveerul Amin; 2nd prize Ankit Sondhi; 3rd prize Eldon Leo.

While delivering his paper on the future directions of tanning science, Professor Tony Covington announced his upcoming retirement from the BSLT, describing the Congress as his IULTCS swan song. While the date is not yet fixed he plans only one more public appearance, at the UK SLTC conference.

JBS SA, Brazil's Friboi meat brand, are buying Swift & Co in an all-cash transaction worth $1.4 billion. In essence this means that Latin America's largest beef processor have agreed to acquire America's third or fourth biggest beef and pork processor, creating the biggest worldwide meatpacking firm.

Frontier Airlines plan to install new leather seats on all their planes. The new trimline leather seats will reduce weight and save on fuel costs. The seats are lighter and the airline expect to save around US$5.5 million annually with their current fleet size on fuel savings alone. Frontier fly out from Denver with their most northerly destination being Anchorage and Acapulco their most southerly.

This is Limeblast 100 and as things were looking in January I intended this to be the last and finish the series on the occasion of this anniversary with: 'and my name is...' In January it was the very first time in almost ten years of a wonderful relationship with my dearest and platonically beloved editor, that we had a serious difference of opinion which made me resign. We tripped over a pair of shoes as habitual readers of Limeblast can easily imagine.

Following an extensive audit, TFL France SAS, based in Huningue, have been awarded ISO 9001 certification. According to Dr Peter Amann, member of the management board TFL Group: 'This ISO 9001 certification of our production and logistics site in France is a further step to continuous improvement in order to satisfy our customers with superior systems and service.'

The Nepszabadsag daily reports that the Raba River Committee, comprising representatives of the Hungarian and Austrian governments, met recently to discuss the issue of the pollution of the Raba river by three Austrian tanneries, according to the Interfax news agency. The committee will formulate a plan of action by September and will meet frequently until then.

The Nordic Leather Council held a meeting at the Maritim Fjordhotel in Flekkefjord, Norway, on May 31 and June 1, 2007, to discuss issues concerning the tanning sector in their region. Twenty-two delegates attended from Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway. In the evening after the first day of meetings, delegates had the opportunity to socialise at a drinks reception on the water-side veranda of the hotel, basked in glorious sunshine. This was followed by a very pleasant dinner where the chairman, Torbjorn Lundin of Tarnsjo Garveri, Sweden, thanked everyone for attending.

Natuzzi's leather-upholstered furniture sales for the first quarter of 2007 were e120 million, decreasing by 16.3% (e143.4 million one year ago), and fabric-upholstered furniture sales of e16 million, were down 33.3%.

Acabados del Vallés, Catalunya, specialists in Spanish lambskin, nappa, nubuck and doubleface are to close after 60 years of operation. The company are currently in liquidation and will completely cease operations at their plants in La Garriga and les Franqueses, having suspended payments in 1998, and not being able to reach the profitability to service the debts. The closure was announced to staff on June 6, and an employee told Leather International that under current conditions the 57 workers will receive no redundancy payments, and will not be paid for the month of June.

At about the same time that Alois G Püntener was delivering his address to the IULTCS Congress on the challenge of REACH for chemicals and also leather imports into the European community, the proposals became law. This was a year and a few days later than originally anticipated.

The Shafi Group of Pakistan inaugurated their new goat and sheep finishing unit in Guangdong at the end of May. The Group own four tanneries in Pakistan, each operating under different company names.

President General Pervez Musharraf recently inaugurated an effluent treatment plant at Korangi Industrial Estate, Karachi. Built at a cost of Rs500 million, this plant is expected to give a boost to an otherwise ailing industry. It will cater to about 200 large and small tanneries in the area.

Planned EU free trade agreements (FTA) with South Korea, India and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) will dramatically boost commercial activity in the leather industry if the agreements are passed, claims a study by Copenhagen Economics for the European Commission. It says South Korean imports of leather would increase by 5.2% if current negotiations lead to just a partial FTA, while the EU is expected to gain a 1% share of the total gains.

Clariant's Leather Business have announced a close business relationship with Dinamic Chem for the Thailand leather industry. From May 1 onwards Dinamic Chem will be fully in charge of the commercial activities for Clariant's Leather Business in Thailand. Clariant will continue to support their customers with an excellent technical service.

The Namibian government has approved a plan to raise the export levy on raw hides and skins from 30% to 60% in the case of hides and from 15% to 60% in the case of skins without consulting an advisory committee it ordered set up, which includes representatives from government departments and the private sector. No time frame was mentioned in a circular sent by the Ministry of Agriculture, Water & Rural Development's directorate of planning to the Meat Board of Namibia on May 7 and 'to my knowledge, nothing has yet been gazetted in this regard', according to the board's manager - information systems, Willie Schutz.

A consortium, including Armando and Marcello Meneguzzo of AM42 Tannery in South Africa, has bought the dormant Omaheke Tannery Co in Witvlei, east of Windhoek, for an undisclosed sum. Omaheke were set up as a wet-blue plant with financing from the Government Institutions Pension Fund (GIPF) in 2003, as part of a portfolio of investments designed to increase employment. The rationale for the location of the tannery was the nearby Witvlei abattoir.

Zenda SA have purchased the former Eagle Ottawa wet-end plant in Bronkhorstspruit, South Africa, from Hannitan, just two months after Hannitan bought it. Zenda general manager Romualdo Varela said it was planned to start production, from wet-blue to crust, in June, to feed their finishing plant in Pretoria, which was installed in the second quarter of last year.