THE DAY AT A GLANCE
- A relatively quiet Wednesday
- Texas $54.00
- Colorados $53.00
- Butts $60.00
- Branded cows $29.50
- Hebei tanneries, shoe factories again under environmental scrutiny
- Today’s trend: Steady
HEAVY TEXAS STEERS
- 66/68 lbs. were available today from one producer at $56.00 for February/March shipment
- 66/68 lbs. were reported at $54.00
BRANDED STEERS
- Colorados sold at $53.00 on 66/68 lbs.
BUTT BRANDED STEERS
- 64/66 lbs. sold at $60.00
PLUMP COWS
- Seasonal average brands were reported at $29.50
HOLSTEINS
- A producer countered a $48.00 bid on seasonal average cows at $51.00 without result.
INDUSTRY NEWS
Hebei tanneries, shoe factories again under environmental scrutiny
The northern Chinese province of Hebei is once again under the environmental spotlight by the Provincial Department of Environmental Protection. A solid waste investigation program has been launched covering the leather, fur, shoe making, plastic recycling and other polluting industries to gather data on how to manage and utilize solid industrial waste from these manufacturing processes.
The aim is to verify the origins of hazardous waste and identify the companies generating it in the above-named industrial sectors. When this data has been collected a plan should then be put forward for a feasibility study for the utilization of such waste.
The data will be gathered by the municipal and county environmental protection departments, which are also responsible for the investigation at all levels. The Provincial Environmental Protection Department will organize random checks to verify any concealment or omission resulting in environmental pollution accidents and any personnel involved will be held responsible.
There is already talk in the media about more tanneries being shut down in Hebei province even before all the data has been collected and analyzed.
MARKET OBSERVATIONS
Today’s trend: Steady
- This observation first appeared in the Friday edition of the US Week in Review.
- Since the All Leather China Fair in Shanghai last September, heavy Texas steer prices have gone from $48.00/$49.00 to $53.50 today. Butts have risen from $55.00/$56.00 around the time of the Fair to $60.00/$61.00 this week.
- Branded/Colorado steers rose from $49.00/$50.00 t0 $53.50 today.
- During this time frame, each week brought more news of how bad shoe leather business was, and that automotive leather upholstery consumption was waning. Kills surpassed slaughter and sales just about every week. The outstanding sales number of sold but not shipped hides/blue grew to the high’s of the year. What was considered a glut of wet blue at the end of summer, found and developed good demand in Italy and firmed up that market.
So how bad is it? Not very.
Producers may be pressed to retain liquidity during the Christmas/New Year holidays in much of the world, plus Lunar New Year starting in February in Asia. However, these should not cause anymore than temporary disruption, for which packers and traders know how to prepare.
Leather demand is seasonally bound to increase in the first quarter. If prices rose this fall, it is hard not to imagine they won’t be higher as the first quarter begins.
FEDERALLY INSPECTED SLAUGHTER
Today | 119,000 |
Last week | 119,000 |
Last year | 114,000 |
Week to date | 358,000 |
Last week | 357,000 |
Last year | 343,000 |
Tuesday’s slaughter included 96,000 steer/heifers and 24,000 cows and bulls
PRICES AT THE CLOSE OF TRADING TODAY
SELECTION | WEIGHT | PER PC FOB | LAST WEEK | LAST YEAR |
Heavy Texas Steers | 66-68 | $52.00-$54.00 | $53.00-$54.00 | $69.00 – 72.00 |
Heavy Texas Steers (Heavy) | 74-76 | $54.00-58.00 | $54.00-58.00 | $73.00-73.50 |
Branded Steers | 66-68 | $52.00-53.00 | $52.00-53.50 | $64.00-65.00 |
Branded Steers (Heavy) | 74-76 | $57.00-58.00 | $57.00-58.00 | $72.00-73.00 |
Colorado Steers | 66-68 | $52.00-53.00 | $53.00-53.50 | $62.00-63.00 |
Colorado Steers (Heavy) | 74-76 | $57.00-58.00 | $57.00-58.00 | – |
Butt Branded Steers | 66-68 | $59.00-60.00 | $60.00-61.00 | $72.00-73.00 |
Butt Branded Steers (Heavy) | 74-76 | $65.00- 66.00 | $65.00- 66.00 | $79.00 – 80.00 |
Heavy Native Steers | 66-68 | $62.50-66..00 | $63.50-64.00 | $76.00 – 76.50 |
Heavy Native Steers (Heavy) | 74-76 | $71.00-72.50 | $70.00-72.00 | $81.00 -82.00 |
Heavy Native Heifers | 52-54 | $52.00-55.00 | $49.00-50.00 | $57.50 – 58.00 |
Branded Heifers | 52-54 | $43.00-$47.00 | $41.00-41.50 | $54.00– 55.00 |
Heavy Native Cows | 52-54 | $35.00-36.00 | $35.00-36.00 | $43.00-45.00 |
Branded Cows | 52-54 | $27.00–29.50 | $27.00–28.00 | $35.00 – 36.50 |
Holstein dairy cows | 52-54 | $47.00-48.00 | $46.00-48.00 | $54.00-55.00 |
Native Bulls | 100-110 | $45.00-46.00 n | $45.00-46.00 n | $52.00 – 59.00 n |