Taking up the slack, however, were new Asian markets including Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam and India, that are enjoying growth in their GDPs and a surge in consumer spending. Also registering a substantial rise in buyer numbers were Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Poland and Finland.

There was lot of activity on the floor during the 3 days of the fair, keeping the 1,193 exhibitors from 53 countries and regions busy throughout.  Exhibitor Juri Beloussov of Skivers Hides AS in Estonia said, “because of the difficulty of the situation in the market, people need to get out to look for opportunities, and maybe better goods with less cost. I don’t mind traveling to exhibitions like this, because it gives me a great chance to do business.”

There were also “returning” exhibitors like leather chemical innovation giants Stahl and Fenice who, after concentrating their marketing efforts in China, are back in Hong Kong in order to reach potential markets in the rest of Asia.

MM&T, which will celebrate its 30th anniversary in 2014, has become an important  forum for the hides and leather sectors to discuss various industry issues and concerns. The rising prices of hides is always a hot topic. Robert Hein of National Beef noted that “the packers and hide traders incur additional costs every year due to government regulations on anything from how meat should be packed to the bugs and pests that have to be controlled.” The drought that has hit the US for some time now also has impacted on the number of cattle. Hein added, “The US industry is under pressure and it is not until 2014 to 2015, even 2017, that numbers are expected to be restored.”

In China, some 300 small-scale tanners have been forced to shut down in the last year as they have been unable to comply with the government’s strict environmental regulations. Mr. Su Chaoying, chairman of CLIA, remarked that “in the Guangzhou area alone, 120 small tanneries have closed, but their production have been absorbed by operational medium-sized tanneries, so volumes have not seen a major reduction.”

Two new activities, Sourcing Luxury and the Leather Forum; “Designing with Leather”, met with enthusiastic approval. Sourcing Luxury succeeded in highlighting the growing trend for luxury goods and many visitors lauded the outstanding exhibits. The Leather Forum, on the other hand, exceeded expectations in terms of attendance. Developed for the purpose of introducing leather as a material to designers, topics included leather basics, leather trends, sustainability and innovations. Bigger versions of these two events are expected for MM&T in March 2014.

(22/04/2013)