São Paulo – Tunisia, Lebanon, Morocco and Egypt are on the list of countries that imported leather from Brazil from January to November this year. Data from the Centre for the Brazilian Tanning Industry (CICB) shows that Arab countries imported a combined 127,900 sqm of hides from Brazil, at USD 1.9 million.
The share of Arab countries in overall exports, however, is very small. The Brazilian leather industry grossed USD 1.8 billion from exports through November, at 176.4 million sqm sold. Revenue was down 10.5% and sales volume was up 6% from the comparable period in 2015.
Exports to Arab countries shrank both in volume, by 19.6%, and revenue, by 26.6%. Seven Arab countries imported leather from Brazil through November 2015, and only four did this year.
Tunisia, which did not buy Brazilian leather through November 2015, was the biggest single Arab importer this year, at USD 1.8 million – the near entirety of sales. Lebanon stepped up its imports by 1,304% to USD 118,600; Morocco’s imports were up 262.2% to USD 17,600.
Sales to Arab countries dropped mostly due to weaker consumption in Egypt, whose imports had reached USD 2.5 million through November 2015, and dropped to USD 15,900 this year. Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates also bought Brazilian leather through November last year, but not this year.
The leading buyer this year was China, followed by Italy and the United States.
In November alone, foreign sales of Brazilian leather fetched USD 155.8 million, up 7.8% from November 2015. Sales volume was 14.04 million sqm, down 9.7%.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
