São Paulo – Brazil exported US$ 1.74 billion in leathers and skins in 2010, a figure 50% higher than in 2009, when the industry posted US$ 1.16 billion in revenues from exports. Compared with 2008, when the country exported US$ 1.88 billion in leather, foreign sales dropped by 7% in 2010. The data were supplied by the Confederation of Brazilian Hides and Skins Industries (CICB).
In December alone, bovine leather exports reached US$ 159.57 million, 22% more than in the same month of 2009. In terms of volume, the country shipped 2.52 million items in the last month of 2010.
The main Brazilian leather export targets were China and Hong Kong (US$ 560.8 million); Italy (US$ 388.4 million); the United States (US$ 189.74 million) and Germany (US$ 55.4 million). Countries whose imports from Brazil have increased include Tunisia, in North Africa, at US$ 5.3 million; and Singapore, Costa Rica and Uruguay.
In 2011, Wolfgang Goerlich, the chairman of the CICB, claims that the goal is to post export revenues of between US$ 1.8 billion to US$ 1.9 billion. "Without a doubt, whether or not the revenues of Brazilian tanneries are going to increase will depend more on the growth of production and sales of higher value-added products than in the volume of sales of processed leathers. And the industry is on the right track, working to improve production," said the executive, according to a statement issued by the organization.
The hides and skins industry has also increased its share in total trade to 8.2%, the highest rate of the last three years.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
