For the last time in 2024, we published our Leatherbiz Market Intelligence newsletter on December 17.  By Leatherbiz

In keeping with the mood for much of 2024, this latest edition concludes that for many leather producers, it has been “a year of disappointment and great difficulty”.

Sporadically, there were embers of hope but, in most cases, no real improvement materialised, the report says. It goes on to suggest that there will be company leaders, certainly in Europe, who will use the holiday over Christmas and New Year “to think intensively about alternatives for the future”.

It said: “The facts are relatively simple. There is a supply of raw material that has not been covered by the physical demand for leather for many years. This realisation is not new, but it has been continuously ignored and is not yet resolved.”

It remains to be seen if there will be any lift in the mood in 2025, but the Market Intelligence report says only a general increase in demand for leather or the full use of China’s substantial production capacity could bring about “a trend reversal in the foreseeable future”.

Our first Market Intelligence of 2025 will appear on January 7.