Presenting to members of the International Council of Tanners prior to the APLF in Hong Kong, Mark Chatwood, automotive manager, leather finish of Stahl Asia Pacific region based in Singapore, gave clear indications on current global trends, particularly in the automotive upholstery sector. It makes very interesting, if not always happy reading

Richard Langton, partner, Russell Jones & Walker, lead solicitors for the claimants in the Linkwise/Eurosofa DMF Group Litigation provides a legal context to the toxic sofa story and appeals to Leather International readers to help identify other harmful substance(s) which may be being used in some leather making processes following an overwhelming response from consumers to reactions that may not always be related to DMF

Tanac specialise in providing the leather industry with Mimosa based products farmed from their FSC certified plantations of Acacia in Brazil. By modifying the extract they have devised new high-performance extracts for upholstery and upper leathers

Silvateam are a leader in the production and sale of vegetable extracts and speciality chemicals for a variety of industries including leather. They have devised two alternative vegetable tanned systems using pretanning agents on wet-white

Dutch tanners, Wendel Leather Group (Gebr. Wendel Leder-fabriek en Handelmij) have recently installed the final phase of their automated dye drum unloading system at their plant in Tilburg.
The project, which was managed and installed by Intermedia Holland from Dongen, was installed to improve worker health and safety as well as increase productivity at the tannery. The Wendel Leather Group have three tanneries located throughout Holland in Waalwijk, Rijen and Tilburg with the Waalwijk plant being the company headquarters.

Commodore Jonathan Cooke OBE retired in May as clerk of the Leathersellers’ Company which is based in the financial district of London. Cooke was selected for the position of clerk from more than 200 applicants in February 1996 following a long and distinguished career in the British navy stretching more than 35 years. Leathersellers’ is a traditional livery company, which owns approximately four acres of land in the city of London, which is some of the most expensive real estate in the world.

Okke Koo, a member of the Clariant executive committee and responsible for the Pigments & Additives Division, will leave the company on June 1, to return to his native Netherlands and pursue other career opportunities. Marco Cenisio, head of the Coatings Business Unit, will head the Pigments & Additives Division in the interim reporting to executive committee member, Dominik von Bertrab. Clariant ceo, Hariolf Kottmann said, ‘I would like to thank Okke Koo for his contributions since being appointed to the executive committee in 2007. Koo joined the company to lead reforms in the Pigments & Additives Division and to improve profitability. He achieved this with significant success by driving down costs, increasing productivity and focusing growth on high-value segments. I wish him well in his future career.’

Julian Osgood has been appointed sales director of leather chemical supplier, Abstract Polymeric, based in the UK. He has joined Darren Strafford who has been manufacturing leather chemicals since 2001. With Osgood’s appointment Strafford will concentrate on his area of expertise in production and R&D.

With great sadness, Stahl have announced the death of Willi Vaskovich at the age of 70. A highly respected past president and chief executive officer, he will be greatly missed by everyone who worked with him and by the leather industry across the world where he had so many friends.
Known affectionately by the staff as ‘WV’, Vaskovich provided Stahl with an outstanding vision, determination and commitment that drove the growth and development and prosperity of the company to its current size, form and success. He was well known and respected by colleagues worldwide and by many people in the leather and coating businesses, including the management of Stahl and its past owners.

Dear Editor,
As the president of the first edition of Tanning Tech held in Milan back in 1995, I am writing to your readers about the important discussions taking place in Italy among the tannery machinery manufacturers (and Tanning Tech exhibitors).

Dear Editor,
ICT views on suggestions from Ron Sauer – re-organisation of the industry (Published, Leather International, May 2009, page 30)

The 17th Delhi International Leather Fair (DILF) is set to take place at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, from October 23-25, 2009, and is organised by the Indian Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) and supported by a number leather and leather product associations and government and regional bodies.
DILF 2008 included 133 exhibitors and covered an area of 2,100 sq m of exhibition space. From the 1,500 visitors, around 85 were from outside India. DILF showcases finished leather, leathergoods, footwear, garments and some upholstery leather.

Chenitan Color Chem have completed twelve years of making dyestuffs for the leather industry. Under the new brand name of Chenitan, they are well established in the Indian leather market ahead of some leading international brands. They work with some of the most important Indian tanners and recently launched their high fast leather dye range called the Chenitan Fast series.
The company were founded in 1996 as Chennai Color Chem by Kirtikumar Jain, the current director and owner of Chenitan Color Chem.

CBASE-NSG is a new leather finishing product from Indian leather chemical makers C&E Ltd. It has been designed to yield a finish that is uniform with high clicking yield for footwear leathers. It also has excellent physical and mechanical properties. CBASE-NSG is a non-film forming blend of speciality waxes, oils and polishable adhesives. With a high active ingredient content of 38+1% and amphoteric character, it has numerous advantages.

Tex Biosciences, based near Chennai, were formerly known as Textan Chemicals and have recently changed their name. An ISO 9001-2000 certified company, they export their range of enzymes and chemicals. to various countries worldwide. They have built a new factory near Chennai, fitted with sophisticated machinery and technology to manufacture high quality enzymes, preservatives, syntans, fatliquors and auxiliaries for the tanning industry.

In the past decade or so the Indian leather and leather products sector has continued to grow and is now seen by many as the market to watch. It is now the second largest leather footwear maker in the world after China and has an abundance of local raw materials

Exports remain healthy as a percentage of slaughter which can be construed as a sign of how low tanners’ inventories in the Far East had been for US hides. Hide prices jumped in May.  However, as the month came to a close, buyer interest narrowed and slowed as the number of hides changing hands appeared to be fewer than those produced.
As of mid May, the total combined raw and wet-blue outstanding orders still to be filled totalled 7,440,500 pieces. This again surpasses the previous record of 7,227,600 set a week ago and 6,573,400 the week before that. Combined raw and wet-blue outstanding amounts set a record – again!

Most hide producers, meat packers and abattoirs in the Americas and in Europe want more money for their raw
material. The reason is not an increase in global demand for leather but rather some new emerging competition between buyers, low kills in a number of countries, a few better economic novelties but above all, as many believe, by speculation. Speculation by those who believe they have a valid reason but also by people considered outsiders who are only in for the quick buck.

Kills have been low over these last two months in Europe but are running at the seasonal high levels in America, and yet we have seen an increase in prices from tanners and also traders who deal in the Far East.

Federally Inspected Slaughter in the four week period ended May 16, 2009, amounted to an average weekly kill of 658,500 (603,000 in our previous report). This was down 6% on the previous year when the weekly kill averaged out at 708,000.

With lower sales volumes (40-50% down), REACH, competition from lower cost countries, the global financial crisis and ever increasing environmental pressures; European tanners are fighting many battles to remain in business at the moment. This is just a summary of the present situation for the European tanning industry. Many other major business segments have of course also been hit in a similar way, for example the automotive industry. The difference is that these larger lines of business, partly due to their size and partly due to very sophisticated lobbying organisations at EU level as well as at national level, have access to subsidies and favourable loans.

Love them or hate them, lawyers have been become an everyday part of the international leather business. As with any profession some have the best intentions for us while others seem set on an agenda of exploiting loopholes and going after easy targets to make a quick buck. Added to this, certain elements of the press look to sensationalise stories without properly looking at the science or background and often tanners are made to look like nasty polluters.

Meet In Africa is supposed to be held once every two years and the 2006 AFLAI General Assembly in Cairo decided that the next, the 6th, edition was to be held in Sudan. Limeblast readers have been informed over the last twelve months about this fair and its problems. The mood whether the Sudanese were actually able to organise this fair went from pessimistic to optimistic and back to pessimistic over the last few months. In the end optimism prevailed and the fair was indeed held from May 4-7 and not without problems.

Shanghai Richina Leather (SRL), a subsidiary of Richina Industries hosted a supplier conference at their Shanghai complex on June 12, 2009. The day's events included business updates, a review of strategic plans, and tours of the company's garment, automotive, and footwear leather operations. GST Autoleather, SRL's automotive leather partner, co-hosted the event.

Satra have developed a training package and laboratory test programme to help companies fully comply with EU regulation on chemicals (REACH) for products.