Market Report 29.05.2026

What happened this week

There was once again very little genuinely new to report from the market this week. Overall, the leather industry’s interest in raw material remains unchanged and continues to move at the low level we have been observing for several months now. Demand in Europe appears stable, but stable does not necessarily mean strong. Capacity utilisation in many tanneries is probably around 70%, and in some cases possibly even below that level. Outside of certain niches, the picture in large-scale production remains relatively clear. The market is looking for material that is large and/or thick and good. This is the window that currently describes European leather demand fairly well. However, it also means that only around 50% to 70% of available raw material can be placed into genuinely suitable demand channels. The remaining part of semi-processed material and finished leather is still desperately looking for a market and sales, and in many cases this is only possible at very low prices, or often not possible at all. Inventories of these types still rise. Suppliers of semi-finished selection are trying to counter this situation with better market knowledge, broader sales efforts and more intensive customer work. In some cases, this may help to achieve better results. However, the remaining stocks still available in Europe suggest that this does not work successfully across the board. In Asia, and particularly in China, business remains highly price-driven. Here too, however, the focus is increasingly shifting towards value-adding articles. Demand is concentrating more and more on very specific hide types. This creates a somewhat paradoxical situation. In many regions, the kill is declining, especially in areas where higher-quality raw material is produced. On the one hand, this reduces availability and strengthens the position of suppliers. On the other hand, it does not solve the broader structural issue of insufficient leather demand across all articles. As a result, pressure remains on finished leather prices, while costs continue to rise. At the same time, suppliers are becoming more aggressive in their pricing for those products where the shift in the supply-demand balance is clearly being felt. Without a broader recovery in leather demand, this could point towards a difficult constellation during the summer. In Europe at least, there is currently little to suggest that the kill will increase meaningfully before autumn. This may tighten the situation further ahead of the holiday period, without changing the underlying problems and hurdles of the overall market. From a business perspective, the week was therefore more or less a continuation of what we have already seen. Heavy male material is reasonably well covered by regular customer demand. For lighter and female material, the price competition with Asia continues in unchanged form. With currency and transport costs showing hardly any movement, it remains extremely difficult to bring buyers’ price ideas and the necessary revenue levels of suppliers into alignment. In terms of volume, the week was rather average. Asia was underrepresented in total sales, mainly because the price bids received were not sufficient.