Serious Deterioration Of Raw Leather Quality In Russian Leather Market

Russia has a long history of leather processing, and is a traditional leather processing country.

As early as the early 90s, Russia's leather and its products industry had begun to take shape.

With the disintegration of the former Soviet Union, a number of enterprises declared bankruptcy because of their inability to operate, and the enterprises that had been struggling to survive had been declining year by year because of the aging of production equipment.

In the 90 year of twentieth Century, the Russian leather industry shifted from the export of manufactured goods to the export of raw leather, and the domestic tanning and shoe making industry was paralyzed or semi paralyzed.

The decline in Russian leather industry began in 1991, the lowest in 1999 after the outbreak of the economic crisis in 1998.

In 2002, Russia had 50 leather factories and 220 shoe factories.

The production capacity of the leather industry is 440 million square meters, and the annual production volume of shoe making factories is 160 million pairs.

In 2002, there were 31 chrome tanning plants in Russia, of which 16 tanneries accounted for 93% of the total output of the country.

Located in Tver ("Ostashkovskykozhzavod"), Ryazan ("Russkayakozha")) and Yaroslavl ("Khrom" LLC) three area, Russia produces the largest area of chrome tanning leather; 15 tanneries are soft leather production plants, of which 7 plants account for 85% of the total production.

The largest production enterprises are mainly distributed in Kirov ("Vakhrushi-yuft"), Yaroslavlregion ("Rybinskykozhzavod"), and NizhniyNovgorod ("Khromatin") areas.

There are mainly 15 base leather factories, 5 of which account for 72% of the total output, and the largest base leather manufacturer is in the Voronezh area ("Shevro").

In 2002, the annual production of chrome tanning leather in the Russian leather industry was 117 million 590 thousand square meters, the output of soft leather was 10 million 50 thousand square meters, and the output of base leather was 7 million 380 thousand square meters.

The problems facing Russia's tanning industry are mainly cash shortage, serious aging of machinery and equipment, lack of funds for equipment upgrading, low output value, uncompetitive products, large unplanned production, large export volume of raw leather, and large imports of cheap finished leather.

Compared with other raw material markets, the raw material market of raw materials for Russian raw materials market is characterized by extremely unstable and variable prices. Unlike other raw material markets, market supply is not increased according to the increasing demand of consumers.

Since 1998, Russian raw skins have been carried out through private traders or middlemen, or exported abroad.

The production of raw skins accounts for 20% of the total raw leather production. Similarly, it sells raw skins to raw leather exporters or sells them to the market.

The raw materials needed for tannery production are usually purchased from middlemen, and the quality of raw leather is low grade leather which is low in export standard 15-20% range.

Since the beginning of 1999, the Russian leather industry has begun to adjust its product structure. Leather enterprises, with the support of local government departments, began to purchase and produce leather according to their wishes.

Some regions have also enacted relevant laws and regulations to help the tannery industry realize their aspirations.

Despite the declining situation of cattle stock, the aging of production equipment and the decline of production growth rate, the Russian leather industry still insists on producing domestic leather instead of importing leather.

At present, the tannery industry in Russia is mainly made up of small tanneries and joint ventures.

Raw leather problem 1) 1 and 2 grade high quality raw skins are exported abroad.

That is to say, 80% raw materials for processing high quality leather are exported to foreign countries through commercial establishments. The quality of raw leather used by leather manufacturers in Russia is very poor. The quality of raw materials is 20%.

2) serious deterioration of raw skin.

The main reason lies in the poor feeding and management of livestock during the feeding process, which causes their livestock to stab the skin on the sharp and hard wire fence, resulting in serious skin damage and reduced grade of raw skins.

3) the quantity of feed and the output of raw leather tend to go down.

In recent years, the number of cattle in Russia has decreased year by year.

In 1991, the number of cattle in Russia was 57 million. In 2002, the number of cattle in Russia dropped to 27 million 800 thousand.

Cattle farms are getting worse and worse, and the prevalence of livestock has increased, which further reduces the quality of raw skins.

4) lack of processing technology.

Lack of experienced professional and technical personnel; production equipment is obsolete.

70-75%'s livestock slaughtering is done on individual farms without professional slaughter, peeling and skin preservation. This is also the main reason for the poor raw skins and the increase of 20-25% consumption per finished leather.