On December 3, 2009, the Rwandan government officially revoked their September 2005 export ban on raw hides and skins. For the moment there is no export duty levied but the country intends to organise a cooperative system for the collection of raw hides and skins.
In Brazil, hide prices stopped increasing in December and many factories were closed for their summer holidays, only returning to work on January 4 this year.

Previous fears of a crash in hide prices were unfounded as the hide market continued to surge forward during November and December. Indeed hide prices are now higher than before the last crash with no apparent end in sight to the price increases.

Excluding the week of the Thanksgiving holiday and using four full week figures to December 5, 2009, the average weekly Federally Inspected Slaughter amounted 629,000 head (640,750 in our previous report). Last year the average for the time of year was 624,750. Overall, slaughter was down 3.9% on the previous year.

BASF, a market leader for waterproofing agents, have introduced Densodrin EP, an innovative development in a new generation of ecologically friendly products in the Desodrin range of water repellants for the production of waterproof leather.
Based on new developments in chemistry, Densodrin EP enables more level dyeing and a drier surface can be obtained, which causes less problems in finishing. The product has excellent resistance to hard water and is less sensitive to pH, while generally providing a good filling effect. Densodrin EP is AOX- and solvent-free, which makes it the natural choice when it comes to environmental friendliness. It is recommended for all types of leather, especially shoe uppers that require high waterproof performance (Maeser and Bally penetrometer tests).

BASF have developed the Lugafast Colorlock system, a new colour technology which enables leather to be dyed to deep shades without staining other materials, whilst also satisfying comfort requirements such as high breathability.

Geoffrey Mawer retired as president of the International Shoe Trades Golf Championship last December, after being president for 19 years since 1991. Mawer has served on the committee since 1960, in the roles of golf secretary and chairman, for 50 years. The Mawer family association with the championship goes back to its formation in 1946 when Dennis W Mawer, Geoffrey’s father, founded the organisation, and served as chairman and patron until 1996, making an amazing total family commitment to the championship of 100 years. Geoffrey is a vice president and will, therefore, still serve on the committee, along with his son John Mawer who is the honorary auditor. As a tribute to the enthusiasm shown by Geoffrey, often known as ‘Mr Championship’ he was unanimously elected as the patron of the championship. Mawer has been working in the leather industry since 1951 covering a range of senior roles for several companies. In 1981 he created G W Mawer Leathers and became an independent leathergoods trader and agent until he retired from full time work in 2006.

Gordon A Wilson (left), incoming president, with Mawer

According to the Ethiopian Leather Industries Association (ELIA) organisers of the 3rd edition of the All African Leather Fair (AALF), the 2010 edition will be more successful than the past two inaugural events. The show is due to take place from January 20-22, at the Millennium Hall in Addis Ababa

The India International Leather Fair (IILF), organised by India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) from January 31 to February 3, 2010, at Chennai Trade Centre, Chennai, will celebrate its 25th edition this year.
IILF is the main event organised by ITPO catering to all segments of the leather and leather supply industries. 2010 marks the silver jubilee edition of the show. Over the past 25 years the fair has helped the Indian tanning and finished leather products sectors modernise, resulting in a dramatic increase in exports of leather and leather products.
The fair is supported by the Indian Council for Leather Exports (CLE), Central Leather Research Institute (CLRI), Indian Shoes Federation (ISF), the Indian Finished Leather Manufacturers & Exporters Association & Footwear Design Development Institute.
Forward bookings to participate this year have been overwhelming from both Indian and overseas companies. Bookings for group participation from China, France, Germany, Italy, Pakistan and Thailand have already been received. Many individual companies from Bangladesh, Czech Republic, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, The Netherlands, Turkey, UAE and the United Kingdom have also booked space. The space available in the halls & convention centre has almost been completely booked and a waiting list is being established. Owing to the constraint of space at the Chennai Trade Centre, additional space by way of setting up temporary pavilions is being contemplated to accommodate a number of prospective exhibitors.
Being the 25th edition, a number of concurrent activities are being planned for the benefit of the industry. A pavilion depicting latest leather colour and fashion trends will also be set up by the CLRI.
The CLE’s and ITPO’s overseas offices are in constant liaison with overseas buyers to be invited to visit IILF 2010. With recovery in economy in sight, business prospect is expected to be good during IILF 2010. Further details of the fair can be found at www.iilfleatherfair.com

A few years ago the outlook for Pittards was uncertain as a black hole in the company pension fund and difficult trading conditions threatened to drag the business under. Step by step they have restructured the business, made two acquisitions and have recently received a royal visit. Martin Ricker visited their UK headquarters to see the turn around at first hand

Dr Lakshmi Muthusubramanian1* CLRI, Chennai, and Rajat B Mitra2, National Chemical Laboratory, Pune, discuss an eco-friendly approach to the synthesis of methylene
bisthiocyanate as a fungicide in leather processing

Topstar 3400 is a full hide rollercoater, which has been designed to apply a colour coat and top coat on full grain and embossed automotive and furniture upholstery leathers. The company envisage that Topstar could allow tanners to finish leathers without the use of spray finishing which can have environmental and cost saving benefits.
Gemata claim that it is possible to obtain smooth and embossed leather finishing effects on leathers using a rollercoater, which are comparable to traditional spray finishing techniques.
The manufacturers claim that using Topstar can save up to 60% of finishing chemical use, 75% of wash waters (80 litres per hour) and 80% of electrical power (15kW/hour) compared with traditional spray finishing techniques.

Vallero International have introduced a revolutionary inner drum system called Vortex which they have patented. The internal system is composed of three high ‘dragon’ shelves and it can be used for all drum processes and installed in any vessel whether made from wood, plastic or stainless steel.
The shelves are directed to the drum centre allowing rotation in both directions and the top profile is wave shaped and not linear. The height of the shelves depends on the operation and  drum size. In soaking and liming drums of 4.2 x 4.5m the shelves are 1m high.

Swiss drum and automation specialists, Hüni, have introduced Prodotracer. A hand held measuring device for the continuous control of the preparation, mixing and addition of manual products carried out during production by using this equipment. Measurement is very simple and efficient using a barcode label and barcode reader. It can be used to register manual activities within the tannery and measures interventions during processing by the operators providing full traceability throughout the whole process.

Vacuum dryers have been around for just over fifty years but  recent research into vacuum drying processes has shown some disadvantages in vacuum drying techniques commonly used today.

The operation of sammying wet-blue leather is very important to obtain leather of an even thickness, with a good area yield, especially on the flanks and head, as well as an accurate moisture content for the subsequent splitting and shaving operations.

Italian milling and finishing machinery experts, Erretre have upgraded their wet milling Inox range of machines. New types of leather finish and grain effects can be achieved by tumbling wet leathers. The higher moisture content, heat and the mechanical action allows the tanner to achieve special effects such as grain pebbling and other surface effects through a controlled shrinkage.

German tanning drum makers, Dose systems AG have developed a process kit for small loads of 500 feet or less. With the new technology small loads can be processed with a consistent quality. The variances between the orders are reduced and customers are happier with precise deliveries of leather.
The kit contains the new designed Dosemotion process vessel with software to control the process from the desktop.

Italian machinery makers, Camoga launched their own version of an automated leather defect detection machine at the last Tanning Tech. ‘Detect’ automatically searches the leather surface looking for defects such as scratches, cuts, scars and other blemishes.

Italian machinery specialists, Bergi have introduced upgrades to their through-feed ironing and embossing press, Starlux, a model that produces leathers for shoe upper, leathergoods and garment. Starlux ‘S’ which was displayed at Tanning Tech in October features a touch screen control panel compared with an analogue screen on the standard model.

Lanxess, one of the world’s leading suppliers of leather chemicals, are giving their customers a genuine competitive advantage with their leather colour and trend forecast for the spring/summer 2011 season

Five leather fashion colour and trend themes will be displayed at the next Le Cuir
A Paris that takes place in February, showing colours and textures for the spring/
summer 2011 season. We highlight below a pictorial theme with accompanying text for each trend and provide a colour palette presented by the fashion stylists employed by the organisers of the show. The next Le Cuir A Paris will take place in Hall 4 of the Paris Nord Villepinte Exhibition Park on the outskirts of Paris, February 9-12, 2010

Clariant have developed a new edition of their Leather Trend Booklet called ‘Fashion Up!’ in preparation for the spring/summer 2011 season

TFL’s new Colour Trend Catalogue for the season spring/summer 2011 presents the trends for the leather garment, footwear, accessory and additionally for the upholstery industry. TFL also provide some technical applications to achieve some of the leathers outlined in the two themes.

Spring and summer! It’s a time of the year when many people are looking forward to holidays. It’s a time of sunshine when fashions and colours are bright and cheerful, when there’s a tendency to a simple approach to life. A simpler way of looking at colour is behind the new look for spring and summer 2011 that Stahl’s new Design Studio consultants, Bianco and White, have used in their first presentation of a Fashion Colour Forecast

I hope that everybody enjoyed the Christmas and New Year celebrations. My very best wishes to the readers of Leather International for 2010 which we all hope will make us forget the problems encountered in 2009, which at least in terms of optimism and economy ended better than it started. Let’s be confident and say that we are on the right track. Sole leather tanners who had a very tough time for the past two years have at long last received some orders. At least it helps them to clear stocks. The underlying factor is that obviously shoe factories have orders too. Will it last? The Dubai bubble burst showing that you do not have a healthy economy counting on luxury and real estate without an industry, but luckily it has effected the world economy only marginally, so far.

BLC Leather Technology Centre provide an overview of the current legislation and requirements for testing the presence of mercury in leather. This article looks at mercury which is now controlled in finished leather by many major footwear brands

Dear Dr Lampard,
I couldn’t stop smiling after I read ‘Greatest Leather Scientists’ published in the October 2009 edition of Leather International (page 28)! It was a great honour to be included in a list with Procter and Wilson etc. What you wrote captured what I tried to achieve. I tried to do good, useful science to overcome industry problems, especially environmental issues. I have thought about my career in leather research a lot since reading the article. The most rewarding things were the many friendships and seeing developments that I was involved in being taken up by the industry.

Dear Dr Naviglio,
Thank you for taking the time to write a letter on the subject of Leather Chemists. You are, of course, quite correct in all your comments, and I agree that certainly Professor A Simoncini, should have been in that list - my apologies for his omission.

Dear Dr Lampard
I am a senior researcher at the Stazione Sperimentale per l’Industria delle Pelli e delle Materie Concianti in Naples, Italy (SSIP). I have been in the past acting scientific manager at the Italian research institute for leather (SSIP).
I have read with interest your article about the ‘Greatest Leather Scientists’ (October 2009, page 28). In general, I agree with you about the names that you have included. In fact, those who know scientific literature relating to the tanning process are conscious of the great contribution that Procter, Wilson, Gustavson, Heidemann and so on have given to leather science.

The German Leather Federation (Verband der Deutschen Lederindustrie) along with the VDMA, hosted a group of eighteen companies at the India International Leather Fair (IILF) this year. The IILF takes place in Chennai, India January 31 - February 3 and is seen as one of the fastest growing markets for the leather and leather products indusries.

The stands were busy on the first working day of the India International Leather Fair (IILF) in Chennai, India on February 1. The show which is approximately 10% bigger by area this year underlines India as a major global market for the leather and leather products industries.

The 25th edition of the India International Leather Fair (IILF), got underway on January 31 after being officially opened by the Indian minister of textiles, Dayanidhi Maran at the Chennai Trade Centre, Nandambakkam, Chennai. He told invited guests and visitors that the leather sector was vital to India’s economy especially in terms of export performance. ‘The government will continue to support the leather industry but the sector has to stand and walk on its own without subsidies’, he said.

More than 350 invited guests of the China based German leather producer ISA Tan Tec attended the opening of its new tannery in Vietnam on January 22. ISA Tan Tec are aiming to provide a new standard for sustainability in leather making combining environmental and socially responsible leather production. ‘It is surprising to see solutions for so many challenging issues put into action by the company’, said Tran Van Lieu head of Binh Duong Industrial and Export Processing Zones Authority (BDIZA), Vietnam.

The situation at DyStar’s Geretsried site which houses the leather chemicals division, formerly known as Dr Boehme is getting worse say the insolvency administrators. Both interested investors from India (Kiri) and China (Hubai Chuyan Chemical), which are looking at buying major parts of the business in the are, not interested in buying the facility in Geretsried or the leather chemicals business unit.

Slips, trips and falls at home, work and in public places can cause serious injury, lost productivity and major compensation claims. The risk of slipping increases where people walk in conditions of snow and ice. Such risk can often be greatest at entrance and exit points of buildings where partially melted snow and ice creates a hazardous combination, made worse by the tendency of many people to relax attention when stepping inside from extreme external conditions.

At the GDS footwear show, held March 12-14, 2010 in Dusseldorf, Germany, the varied world of street and urban wear will be structured into different segments in hall 3 – together providing an overview of high-selling brands and key design newcomers.

To assist that process and to offer a professional business platform for those in the field of raw materials -- leather and other fabrics, components and machinery, together with related new technology aids -- The APLF- Materials Manufacturing & Technology (APLF - MM&T)edition to be held this coming March in Hong Kong will focus on fashion and a strong platform for the strong asis markets, particularly China.

The IMM furniture show in Cologne, Germany on January 25, saw the launch of Natuzzi’s Editions collection, a brand new B2B trademark by Italian leather furniture company, Natuzzi Group. Editions is the widest of all the three brands belonging to the Natuzzi Group (Natuzzi, Italsofa and Editions) and this is due to the importance that the company is giving to the international launch of Editions.

Hong Kong-listed Yue Yuen Industrial said its operating revenue rose 0.7% year in December to $469.2 million. Last year, the company's operating revenue was $4.97 billion, down 2.9% from $5.12 billion in 2008.

The international golf championship of the Shoe Leather & Allied Trades in 2010 returns to Killarney, Ireland, June 16-18, at the Killarney Golf & Fishing Club, set among some of the most breathtaking scenery in Europe. Last year the association raised £14,750 ($23,748) from the event and donated it to the trade charities.

The United States Hide, Skin and Leather Association (USHSLA), will conduct a trade servicing mission to Mexico coinciding with the ANPIC Leather Fair taking place in Leon, February 18 -21.

Alvaro Vaqueiro forty two years ago joined Stahl Mexico, known then as Acabados Newark. He was appointed managing director in 1988 and since then has looked after Stahl’s operations not only in Mexico but also in Colombia and Venezuela as well the company’s business in Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru. He retired at the end of 2009, a moment in time which staff and customers alike are already saying marks the end of an era.

MSA Engineering, based in Halifax, UK are now offer wireless capabilities for their ST300 Digital Softness Tester and SG300 Digital Substance Gauge.  Comprising of a radio module that fits into the RS 232 connector on the digital dial indicator, and a receiver that connects via a port to your PC (supplied with software), thus enabling wireless transmission of measurement values from each gauge directly to the PC, using the latest development in interface technologies.

The third edition of the All African Leather Fair (AALF) began on January 20 at the Millennium Hall in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Officially opened by the Ethiopian minister of trade and industry, Girma Birru, the event is the leading leather and leather products show for Africa.

‘Eco Trends in Leather’ will be the topic explored during a half day conference at this year’s APLF in Hong Kong on March 30.  Speakers from a range of international brands and organisations – including Nike, the National Wildlife Federation and PrimeAsia – will discuss a range of topical subjects including deforestation and traceability, benefits of the Leather Working Group, green chemicals and eco design, amongst others. The conference co-organised by BLC and APLF with Leather International magazine as a media partner.

The Department of Export Promotion (DEP), Ministry of Commerce of the Royal Thai Government have announced that BIFF & BIL 2010 – Bangkok International Fashion Fair and Bangkok International Leather Fair will be organised during April 1-4 this year at the Challenger Hall 1 – 3, Impact Muang Thong Thani, Nontaburi, Thailand.

The first day of 17th session of the Unido Leather and Leather Products Industry Panel met in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa on January 18 at the Intercontinental hotel. A number of presentations were given to the 37 member panel made up of delegates from all over the world. Topics discussed included current and future leather sectorial trends, the impact of REACh regulations on the tanning industry and an overview of current and forthcoming Unido (United Nations Industrial Development Organisation) projects.

The UK based Leather and Hide Trades’ Benevolent Institution (LHTBI) have been supporting the leather industry for 150 years this year. The LHTBI was established in 1860 with a meeting held in a coffee shop on Ludgate Hill, London on July 4, 1860, and the first president was J S Deed. In 2010 the LHTBI will celebrate 150 years of service to former leather tannery workers and their dependents. The 150th president is Jill Williams of Pittards plc, the first female to preside in that time.

The second edition of Footwear Materials, Manufacturing & Technology Exhibition (fMM&T) 2010 will be held at Indian Expo centre Greater Noida from May 7-9, 2010. Managed by leading leather and materials trade fair organiser APLF, UBM India and in partnership with Indian Footwear Components Manufacturers Association (IFCOMA), fMM&T India 2010 is likely to attract more than 6,000 trade visitors and over 180 exhibitors from India and abroad.

The Social Partners of the European Leather Industry (Cotance) addressed, in their Social Sectoral Dialogue Committee Meeting of December 15, 2009 (in Brussels), the allegations made to the leather industry in general and to certain European tanneries and their customers in particular in the Greenpeace report released over internet on the deforestation of the Amazon (http://www.greenpeace.org/international/press/reports/slaughtering-the-amazon).

At approximately 7.30 am on Thursday, January 7, a Memphis light gas and water transformer caught on fire in one of Buckman’s facility buildings at their headquarters in Memphis, and was quickly put out by the Memphis Fire Department by 7.51 am. Buckman produce wet-end chemicals for the tanning industry.
The fire which was near a control room area did not involve any chemical products or processing equipment, involved no chemical release of any kind, and thus created no impact to the local community or environment.