According to figures published by the Leather and Hide Council of America (LHCA) for January, salted hide exports declined by 22% compared to the same month one year ago, but the volume of wetblue exports recorded a rise of 15% in the same period.

The buyers of wetblue were China and Italy but for the month of January, Vietnam was the main buyer purchasing more than 102,000 pieces.

China purchased 25% fewer salted hides in January compared to 2023 but increased the volume of weblue by 78%, which contributed to the overall total of just over 349,000 pieces.

Salted hide exports for the month of January were 1.6 million.