Brazil’s tanners and packers earned just over $1.2 billion from exports of leather, hides and skins in 2022, industry organisation CICB has reported. This figure represents a fall of 13.8% compared to 2021, but an increase of almost 25% compared to 2020, reports Leatherbiz.

In terms of volume, CICB has calculated exports of 140.75 million square metres, down on the previous year by 18.3% and on 2020’s figure by 17.9%.

Exports of finished leather contributed by far the biggest share of the 2022 total value, with $690 million, down by 12% year on year.

The figure for wet blue was $303 million, down by 16.4% year on year. Crust brought in $121 million, a fall of more than 20%.

However, the value of shipments of wet-salted hides from Brazil more than doubled last year, reaching almost $6 million, compared to $2.75 million the year before.

China, the US and Italy were the three most important export markets for Brazilian leather last year, contributing $278 million, $224 million and $203 million towards the total respectively.

Exports to the US brought a bright note to CICB’s figures. China took 30% of the volume but contributed 22% of the value. Italy took 19% of the volume and contributed 16% of the value. The US on the other hand received 10% of the volume but contributed 18% of the value. Moreover, export revenues from the US were up by almost 15% year on year.