The board of directors of Natuzzi, a world leading furniture company, announced on March 25 the
financial results for the full year 2009.

Net sales for full year 2009 were €515 million, decreasing by 22.6% with respect to €666 million reported in 2008. Upholstery sales were €451 million down by 23.3% from €588 million in 2008. The contribution by geographic area was: Europe 46.7% (excluding Italy); Americas 31.0%; Italy 11.9% and rest of the world 10.4%.For full year 2009 the group reported an industrial margin of €186 million, or 36.0% on total net sales, up from 28.1% in 2008. Operating loss was €10.6 million compared to an operating loss of € 35.0 million reported in 2008.The group reported a net result of €17.7 million for full year 2009 as compared with a net loss of €61.9 million for 2008, with an improvement of approximately €44.2 million.

Clariant, the specialty chemicals maker, announced on April 29 sales of CHF 1.817 billion in the first quarter 2010, compared to CHF 1.604 billion in the previous year, an improvement of 13% in Swiss Francs and 16% in local currency. However, sales were still clearly behind pre-crisis levels. The Q1 results the new Leather Services business were highlighted as performing well. (US$1 = CHF 1.08)

Major retail brands such as Adidas, Clarks, Nike and Timberland issued on April 27 a last-chance message to leather suppliers – they will drop any supplier using farms not registered by the Brazilian Government by July. The registration of cattle farms is a vital first step to protect the Amazon from further deforestation.

The Leather Working Group (LWG) has been working closely with Greenpeace and other NGO’s in support of their campaign to eliminate deforestation in Brazil caused by cattle ranching. The LWG recognises the importance of leather as a co-product of the meat industry and as a consequence has now included a section on hide traceability within its latest environmental stewardship document due to be launched later this year.

Insurers for a number of High Street chains in the UK have been ordered to pay up to £20 million ($31 million) in compensation to 2,000 people who received chemical burns from leather sofas made in China. Burns were caused by dimethyl fumarate (DMF) sachets used to prevent mould growth during shipment. The ruling was made by the high court in London on April 26.

The ISA TanTec tannery in Saigon, Vietnam has been awarded second prize in the German Energy Efficiency Awards by the German Energy Agency (EnergieEffizienz). Viessmann Werke, a heating technology system manufacturer won the first prize.

Visitors to the 2010 Guangzhou Leather Fair, Guangzhou, China, June 1-3 will be see Clariant’s new collection of leathers, based on their spring-summer 2011 colour and fashion trends. Leathers covering most types, including shoe uppers, handbags, garments, and sofas will be shown. On booth 0110 0112 & 0131 0133 in hall 11.2, Clariant will demonstrate how innovative products and processing techniques, offering environmental benefits and optimum processing economy, can enhance the natural beauty of leather with the look and performance to suit individual customer requirements.

The LEATHER International Power List 2010 is ready to roll and we
are once again inviting all readers and online users to have their say as to who they
consider to be the most important and influential tanners on the
planet. First published in August 2009, the LEATHER International
Power List highlighted the twenty leading tanners in the world.
A review of the 2009 results can be seen by clicking on the power list menu option.

International tanning group Pittards, Yeovil, UK are back in the black with a full year pre-tax profit of £1.6m ($2,4m) compared with a loss of £0.4m (0,6m) in 2008. Revenues for the year to the end of December 2009 fell to £24.6m ($37.4), down from £26.8m ($40.7).

This year’s Leather Finishing Training Course run by Stahl at the BSLT (British School of Leather Technology) in Northampton, UK was given to 14 students from India, Pakistan, Uganda, France, Italy and Kenya. The course showed students the basic principles of leather finishing and the ways in which finishing products could be used in formulations.

Since the acquisition of the DyStar Group and its German assets by India based Kiri Dyes & Chemicals Ltd on February 3, DyStar has made major progress. Steve Barron, CEO DyStar comments: ‘We are pleased with the speed of implementation of essential measures such as negotiation and signing of important contracts with our suppliers, service and financial partners.’

Having postponed the SLTC Convention in 2009 until there was an upturn in the market, the SLTC will be holding their next event from July 22-25, 2010, at the Erinvale Estate Hotel and Spa in Somerset West.

The Forest Trust (TFT) and the Macintosh Retail Group announced on March 23 the launch of a new initiative that will use production of ‘green’ footwear, bedding, flooring and textiles to fight slash-and-burn cattle ranching that are decimating rain forests and damaging the environment.

The second edition of Footwear Materials, Manufacturing & Technology exhibition (fMM&T) is set to take place at the India Expo Centre, Greater Noida, New Delhi, May 7-9.

The impact of the REACh regulations that came into force across the European Union on June 1, 2007 in most cases will not have a major effect on chemical costs that will be passed on to tanners, nor on the availability of chemicals. During a Unido sponsored meeting held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on January 18, Jakov Buljan, Unido consultant, outlined the impact of the regulations known fully as Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals. He said that at the beginning of 2010 a further 15 chemicals had been added to the banned list and he gave an overview of how the regulations work.

According to Mamdouh Mekky, chairman of the African Federation for Leather (AFLAI) and chairman of the Arab Union for Leather Industries the first phase of relocation of Egyptian tanners from the downtown tanning district of Cairo to the new purpose built tanning zone at Robikki will take place at the end of 2010.

JBS the world's largest beef processor, may raise as much as 2.16 billion reais ($1.23 billion) with the sale of new shares to fund its direct distribution business.

The board of directors of Natuzzi, a world leading furniture company, announced on March 25 the financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2009. 

Fourth quarter 2009 financial Results
Net sales for the fourth quarter of 2009 totaled €152.1 million decreasing by 16.5% compared to the same quarter of last year but a clear recovery with respect to the previous quarters of 2009, that underlines the actions taken to face the global economic crisis according to Natuzzi. Upholstery net sales were €133.9 million compared to €161.1 million in fourth quarter of 2008. The contribution by geographic area was: Europe 45.6% (excluding Italy); Americas 32.8%; Italy 11.4% and rest of the world 10.2%. Industrial margin totaled €59.3 million, increasing from 32% in 2008 to 39% in 2009 as a percentage of net sales. Such improvement is mainly due to a raw material price reduction and to an improvement in materials consumption. Operating income was €2.1 million compared to an operating loss of €5.5 million in Q4 2008.

Full Year 2009 financial result

A total of 66 companies recently attended the APLF in Hong Kong from Pakistan. The fair is seen as the major international show for the Pakistan’s tanners with existing and new buyers attending from all over the world, particularly Asia.

Fimec the Brazilian leather and footwear suppliers show is set to take place in Novo Hamburgo, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil from April 13-16.
The 34^th edition of the show takes place at the Fenac exhibition grounds’ and organisers hope that up to 50,000 visitors from around the world will attend the international fair for leather, chemicals, components, machinery and equipment for the footwear and tanning industries.

More than 500 shareholders, representing roughly 25% of the share capital recorded in Clariant's share register attended the Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on March 29, in Basel.

Pittards Ethiopia Tannery Share Company (ETSC) from Ethiopia have been awarded as the first Tannery of the Year (2009) at an awards dinner and ceremony held in Hong Kong on March 29. ETSC were chosen from a final shortlist of five regional winners by a panel of six judges following final presentations which were made during the APLF event in Hong Kong earlier on the same day.

Four months after production stopped following DyStar falling into administration the production location in Geretsried, Germany has a new owner it was announced on April 1. ‘Pulcra Chemicals have purchased the site, the facilities and the production means and they want to restart the production as soon as May’, says insolvency administrators of DyStar Miguel Grosser of the law firm Jaffe Rechtsanwälte Insolvenzverwalter and Dr Stephan Laubereau of Pluta Rechtsanwalts. ‘We are very proud to be able to present an investor after all this time. Against the background of difficult general conditions and heavy setbacks it was a very hard process to find a solution which gives all parties an edge.’

The 26^th edition of the APLF ended on March 31, just before the Easter holidays, with an upbeat mood existing among most that attended. The word most used this year was ‘confidence’ with most exhibitors happy with the level of visitors attending the show and placement of orders looking forward. It believed that consumer demand in China, India and the rest of South East Asia is behind the new optimism as demand from the US, Latin America and Europe is still fragile.