Leather Exports Decline --Financial Express dated Monday, 10 July 2000

LEATHER EXPORTS DECLINE 9.78%
VM KHALEELUR RAHMAN

Jul 9: The DGCI&S, Calcutta report shows that there is a decline of 9.78 per cent in the exports of finished leather in the last financial year. The exports, which were to the tune of $264.67 million in April/March 1998-99, came down to $238.79 million in April/March 1999-2000.
The discouragement of the Council for Leather Exports (CLE) for the development and export of finished leather under the wrong advice of its dominant members - manufacturers and exporters of leather products - is the main cause for the continuous fall of the leather and leather products exports, says a leading and experienced tanner and adds somewhat furiously that ``unless they are kept out of the CLE which is basically a Council for Leather Exports as its very name suggests, there cannot be any improvement because the development of the leather products industry depends on the development of the leather industry which supplies required finished leather to shoe, garment and goods manufacturers.

Some other tanners plead for the removal of 15 per cent export duty on the E. I. tanned skins to enable them to offer their goods at competitive prices and get orders from overseas buyers.
However, leather products manufacturers feel that a restrictive leather export policy, as at present, is necessary for the development of the value added leather products industry. But value addition is not in sight and even the exports of leather products are on the decline. The exports of leather footwear, footwear components, leather garments and leather goods which were to the tune of $1340.01 million during 1998-99 finnacial year came down by 5.70 per cent to $1263.63 million during the financial year April-March 1999-2000. Under this situation a really liberalised export policy in accordance with the norms of the WTO is a sine qua non for the betterment of the leather and leather products industry.

Market: There is good demand for goat upper and lining leathers at unchanged prices in reputed marks. Some quality conscious buyers in countries like Germnay place orders with those tanners who are supplying goods free from formaldehyde, Chrome-VI Azo and PCP contents. Goat garment suede is normal in movements at its prices at around $1.40 per sq.ft.