30 April 2024
Latin American companies expand their global business in Hong Kong
The return of the APLF fair to its traditional stage in the city of Hong Kong showed that it continues to be the largest meeting point for the global leather industry and its manufactures, marking the pulse of the market and providing indications about the paths it will take in the coming months.
All the professionals around the world showed their optimism about the return to their usual appointment, knowing that this space that for 40 years has generated excellent business – and in the last 20 has been installed with the center of the business of the global leather industry – even knowing that the current context generates doubts about the near future and impacts the level of activity.
As has been said in some sector reports, such as the one in the prestigious publication World Leather / Leatherbiz, the European situation is not the best but Asia is showing greater vitality and professionals in the sector are taking measures to gain space in their businesses. But few foresaw that the industry’s other young region, Latin America, is showing that it has all the conditions to play a big role.
The industry in Brazil, by far the largest in the region, understands this and that is why a solid group of companies prepared their participation in the APLF with all their experience and capacity. In addition, they were assisted in this new stage by government export promotion entities such as APEX Brazil, and the coordination of the Brazilian Leather and Brazilian Materials projects.
The opinion of all these participants is that the contacts and deals – the contracts signed and the agreements for the near future – that the Brazilian companies achieved far exceeded their expectations.
The tanneries, coordinated by the Brazilian Tanning Industry Center (CICB), formed a solid contingent of 55 companies. At the close of the fair, they reported that based on the contacts made at the APLF, they projected sales of US$ 185.2 million for the next 12 months. This result exceeds that of 2019, a time of smoother business.
The sales contracts already signed during APLF Leather also show positive figures for Brazilian tanneries: during the three days of the fair they sold leathers for US$ 33.9 million, almost 30% more than in 2019. Contacts were also established: 1,500 in 2024, compared to a hundred fewer in the previous edition, five years ago.
The evaluation of this edition of the fair by the tanneries of Brazil is excellent and all those who participated assure that they will return in 2025.
The tanneries that exhibited at APLF were the following:
A. Bühler, Agro Latina, Alpha Hides, America Leather, A.P. Müller, Bannach, CBR Group, Classic Couros, Coming, Cortume Krumenauer, Couro & Arte, Curtume Cacique, Curtume Minuano, Curtume Nimo, Curtume Partner, Curtume Santo Antônio, Curtume Sulino, Durli Leathers, Euro-América, Forma Couros, Fuga Couros S.A., Gobba Leather, H.Y. Leatherex, Hason International, JBS Couros, Liderkoll, Luiz Fuga, Minerva Leather, Nova Kaeru, OCM Best Brasil, Pacific Leather, Union Leather y Wellour.
Another of the industrial sectors that were presented at the Hong Kong fair are the leather chemical products, brought together by the Brazilian Association of Companies of Leather Components, Footwear and Artifacts (Assintecal). There were nine well-known companies that also celebrated their excellent results. The companies reported business that exceeded US$ 16 million, between those made and those projected for the rest of the year. The figure is more than double that recorded in the previous edition.
Assintecal’s Marketing and Relations Manager, Aline Santos, confirmed that the fair’s return to Hong Kong facilitated excellent contacts and negotiations and was a source of satisfaction and optimism for exhibitors and buyers. “We had important visits from major players in the markets of China, India, Indonesia, the United States, Mexico, Thailand, Italy, Vietnam, Pakistan, Turkey, the Philippines, Russia and Japan,” she confirmed.
According to Santos, 178 contacts were made with the international market. “Even with the global market still very volatile, business surprised positively. Brazilian materials and chemical products are increasingly better considered by the international market, due to the attributes of quality and sustainability, and this helps a lot in performance,” concluded the Assintecal executive.
The following companies participated in the APLF: Systemhaus, Química Carioca, Corium Química, Seta, Master Equipamentos, Noko, Ecovita, Michelon and Tanac.
Next stop is in Shanghai
The success of APLF Leather in Hong Kong and the record number of buyers that attended the All-China Leather Exhibition in 2023 (more than 28,300 of which 24,000 came from the main manufacturing provinces of China) have combined to encourage the participation of Brazil’s industry at ACLE 2024 (3-5 September in Shanghai).
Brazil sells almost 32% of its leather exports to China and so far some 20 companies have confirmed their participation at ACLE and this number is expected to increase.
China and markets in southeast Asia are the key buyers of leather of all types and ACLE is the unrivalled business platform from where to make new customer contacts.
Access www.aplf.com or contact us by email for more information at [email protected].
We bring leather, material and fashion businesses together: an opportunity to meet and greet face to face. We bring them from all parts of the world so that they can find fresh partners, discover new customers or suppliers and keep ahead of industry developments.
We organise a number of trade exhibitions which focus on fashion and lifestyle: sectors that are constantly in flux, so visitors and exhibitors alike need to be constantly aware both of the changes around them and those forecast for coming seasons.
