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A: SALIENT FEATURES OF THE HIDES AND SKINS AND DERIVED PRODUCTS ECONOMY

Summary Tables I-XI have been aggregated from country data presented in the World Compendium. Together with brief accompanying notes, they provide information on salient features and major developments characterizing the hides, skins, leather and leather manufactures economy at global and regional levels.

Table I: Raw Hides and Skins, Leather and Leather Footwear: Integrated Production, Trade and Apparent Availability Balance at all levels of Processing, 1999 -2001

RAW HIDES AND SKINS

LEATHER

FOOTWEAR WITH
LEATHER UPPERS

3/

Livestock
Population

Production

Net
Trade
1/

Apparent
Availability
2/

Production

Net Trade

Apparent
Availability

Production

Net
Trade
1/

Apparent
Availability

Heavy

Light

Heavy
1/

Light
1/

Heavy

Light

(Mill.
Head)

(..Thousand Tonnes..)

Thousand
tonnes

Million
sq. ft.

Thousand
tonnes

Million
sq. ft.

Thousand
tonnes

Million
sq. ft.

(............Million Pairs............)

BOVINE HIDES
AND SKINS














WORLD

1 510.4

5 717.7

+ 139.5

5 859.2

495.2

10 999.6

+ 6.9

+ 599.9

502.1

11 599.6

4 343.9

- 82.9

4 261.0

DEVELOPING
COUNTRIES

1 180.5

3 076.6

+ 842.1

3 918.7

313.0

6 534.4

+ 4.9

+ 1 625.1

317.9

8 159.4

3 270.7

- 1005.8

2 264.9

DEVELOPED
COUNTRIES

329.9

2 641.1

- 702.7

1 940.5

182.2

4 465.2

+ 2.0

- 1 025.1

184.2

3 440.1

1 073.2

+ 922.9

1 996.1

SHEEPSKINS
AND
GOATSKINS














WORLD

1 765.4

643.4

+ 9.1

651.9


4 501.5


+ 201.1


4 756.9

-

-

-

DEVELOPING
COUNTRIES

1 351.6

432.6

+ 60.4

492.3


3 245.4


- 92.2


3 207.5

-

-

-

DEVELOPED
COUNTRIES

413.8

210.9

- 51.2

159.7


1 256.1


+ 293.3


1 549.5

-

-

-

1/ Theoretically, net trade at the global level should be close to zero, but in pratice due to shipping time and reporting discrepancies the difference can be significant.
2/ Wet salted for bovine, dry without wool for sheep and dry for goat.
3/ While there is a certain quantity of leather from sheep and goat going into footwear, leather shoes balances have only been shown against the bovine part of the table for reasons of simplicity and lack of data.
Note: - signifies net exports, + net imports

Notes to Table I

Table I presents in an integrated form, data on output, trade and apparent availability of hides and skins at subsequent levels of processing, globally and by the two major country groups, for the period 1999-2001.

Globally, the bovine population of some 1 500 million head yielded approximately 5.7 million tonnes of raw hides on a wet salted basis. The average unit weight per hide was 18.1 kg (see also Table II). Heavy leather production totalled 495 200 tonnes, while 10 999 million square feet of light leather, including split leather, were produced. Some 56 percent of the light leather was converted into 4 344 million pairs of shoes with leather uppers, utilizing roughly 6 500 million square feet (see also Table IX). The remaining 44 percent of light bovine leather was absorbed by other diverse end-uses, largely garments, furniture and travel goods, including handbags.

A global sheep and goat flock of 1 765 million generated 643 000 tonnes of raw skins on a dry basis. This raw material was converted into 4 502 million square feet of sheep and goat leather, i.e. some 7.0 square feet per kg. of raw skin. While some of the sheep leather was used in shoe linings and some goat leather in shoe uppers, the bulk found its way into a vast variety of leather articles ranging from leather clothing to wristwatch bands.

Developments at the various processing levels are described in the notes to Tables II to X which follow.


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