The data comes from SECEX (Secretariat of Foreign Trade) of the Ministry of Industry and Foreign Trade and was analyzed by the Center for the Brazilian Tanning Industry (CICB).
In terms of square meters, Brazil exported 10.9 million in December, 1.3% more than in November. The figure was, however, 14.3% less than in December 2021 when the total was 12.7 million square meters.
The second half of 2022 was very different from the first half. The monthly average during the first six months was nearly stable compared to 2021 at more than US$111.0 million. By contast, during the second half the average dropped by almost 25% to US$92.1 million. In volume, the average during the second half of 2022 was about 2.2 million square meters less each month, compared to the same period in 2021.
The second half declines strongly affected total exports, which dropped by 13.8% in value and 18.3% in volume compared to 2021. If you compare 2022 with 2020 — which had the lowest export value in 18 years — growth was 24.9%, but based on the first half, growth would have been up by 48.1%.
2022 was challenging for the market because of the global economic and political situation, especially in Asia and Europe, where the largest customers of Brazilian leather are located. A negative backdrop of restrictions due to the pandemic in Asia, as well as the terrible conflict between Ukraine and Russia, took a negative toll. This situation in Europe caused absurd increases in critical costs, such as electricity, increasing inflation and cutting into the consumption of goods that use leather.
