We released the last Leatherbiz Market Intelligence of 2022 on December 13.

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It will come as no surprise to regular readers that the newsletter’s summary of this year is that it is harder to get a clear view of the leather pipeline at the moment than in “normal times”. Difficult decisions about 2023 are being delayed in many cases and many companies in Europe are likely to opt for an extended Christmas holiday.

For the period between now and mid-January, at least, little real change is likely.

Beyond that, the lifting of covid-19 restrictions in China should be good news, but it will take some time for the benefits to show in the movement of leather and leather-based consumer products.

Much will depend on the success of the new covid-19 policy and its effective roll-out across China’s cities and provinces, but at least this, the report points out, is something optimists can pin some hope on.