Brazilian leather exports surpass US$ 2 billion

Brazilian leather exports totalled US$ 2.19 billion last year, an increase of 17% compared with 2006, when sales stood at US$ 1.87 billion, according to data disclosed today (21st) by the Confederation of Brazilian Hides and Skins Industries (CICB).
Shipments of greater value-added items (semi-finished and finished products), represented 67% of total revenues from Brazilian exports in 2007, against 64% in 2006. In a press release, the president at the CICB, Luiz Bittencourt, said that the sector's performance is a result of the strategy of the tannery industry, which is increasingly focussed on higher value-added markets, such as the automobile and furniture sectors, which demand more than 60% of national production.
For 2008, the foreign market for the sector is expected to remain heated, even with a projected reduction of 5% to 10% in slaughtering to replace the cattle herd. According to Bittencourt, the Brazilian industry should expand by means of price compensation.
Last year, the leading destinations for Brazilian leather were China – including Hong Kong – with a 33% market share; Italy, with 28%; and the United States, with 11%. Brazil is the world's second largest producer and fourth largest exporter of leathers.
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