S&V African Leather Magazine Vol11 No5 May 2017
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IN THIS ISSUE:
Sector Reports
SHALC AGM: Export restriction debate drags on, but defending leather against animal welfare will be issue of the future.
Automotive: Move away from SA continues, and local hide prices must come down, says Adrian Visser.
Footwear: All sectors under pressure, says Gert Kruger.
Furniture: We need to export, and we have to be more competitive, says Rudolf Hanni.
Game skins: New association aims to up standards.
Education – the 2017 SLTC Convention
Back from the brink, but much more to do.
Opinion – What are Phthalates?
From columnist H. Procter.
Some hide and leather specifications
Compiled by the ISTT.
Product News
Lanxess: New developments in leather chemicals.
Trade Fairs
ACLE coincides with World Leather Congress.
Textiles
EU now a member of ICAC.
Advertisers in this Issue
BASF (2), DyStar Boehme Africa (4), ISTT (9), Lanxess (OFC), Mimosa Extract Co (10), Rolfes Chemicals (6), SCOT (8).
- Export restriction debate drags on, but defending leather against animal welfare will be issue of the future
Skin, Hide & Leather Council (SHALC) AGM, at the Intercontinental Hotel, OR Tambo Airport, May 26 ...moreAutomotive: Move away from SA continues, and local hide prices must come down
We could re-print the same report that was written last year as all those factors, trends and predictions held true for this past year as well, and will probably continue to do so going forward. The sourcing of business to Europe, the de-contenting and the swing away from leather interiors have continued this past year, resulting in a muc ...moreGame skins: New association aims to up standards
The new association for taxidermists and associated businesses had its formal launch in MayThe South African Taxidermy & Tannery Association (SATTA) was established in October 2016 with the aim to become the officially recognised body to serve the Taxidermy, Tannery and Dip & Pack industry in South Africa. We aim to actively work ...moreWhat are the Phthalates?
A chemical that is often used in the tanning industry is phthalic acid. At the turn of the last century the industry was fascinated by the development of chromium tanning, that aspired to be a viable alternative to the vegetable tanning method (that was universally practiced). During chromium tannage, masking salts can be added to increas ...more2017 SLTC Convention - Back from the brink, but much more to do
This year's SLTC Convention, its 65th - while short of where the organising committee would like it to be - showed significant improvement over last year's event, which was a low point in the SA Section's 75 year history. Attendance was marginally up, from 37 to 42. More importantly, 10 of them were from 7 tanneries, against 5 from 6 last ...moreFurniture: We need to export, and we have to be more competitive
The reality that the furniture manufacturing sector was negatively affected by the economic downturn could be seen in the drop of domestic leather sales. Initially, there was movement from high-end leathers to corrected grain leathers purely from a cost point of view. However, these sales reduced dramatically as the general consumer had t ...moreFootwear: All sectors under pressureThe domestic footwear industry has continued in a similar vein to 2016: that is a lot of uncertainty about future demand and what impact the ongoing political and economic instability will have on consumer behaviour. Different sectors of the footwear market have experienced varied trading conditions, with the civilian footwear sector (fas ...moreLanxess: New developments in leather chemicalsEdenvale, SA - The Leather Business Unit of specialty chemicals company Lanxess is one of the leading suppliers of system solutions for the leather industry – from chemicals for all stages of leather production to on-site technical support. With its product portfolio and processes for manufacturing leather for a range of purposes, i ...moreMore to do in ShanghaiACLE coincides with World Leather CongressShanghai, China - The 20th edition of the All China Leather Exhibition (ACLE) (August 30-September 1) will be preceded on August 29 by the 3rd World Leather Congress (WLC), also in Shanghai, themed 'The Leather Revolution'. These 2 major events are the most important to be organised in China ...moreEU now a member of ICACFrom the Secretariat ICAC Washington, USA – The membership of the EU in the ICAC is of strategic significance to the world cotton industry and the 150 million people involved in cotton production, marketing and processing each season. Some of the most important trade and research institutions in the world of cotton are h ...moreFootwear Industry Articles
- ‘Footwear and leather goods sectors show united front at R-CTFL Masterplan review’
The R-CTFL Masterplan is currently under review, and a strategic planning session was recently convened with all key stakeholders and representatives present.The footwear and leather contingent participated fully in the session. Representatives from the dtic’s Footwear and Leather sector desk, SAFLEC, SAFLIA, and organised labour, i ...moreCity of Cape Town backs AllFashion Sourcing as it seeks to grow CTFL sector
Cape Town, W. Cape, SA – AllFashion Sourcing Cape Town 2026 returns to Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC 2) from 14–16 July 2026, marking a significant milestone as the City of Cape Town joins as a key partner in advancing Africa’s fashion, textile and apparel sector.This partnership signals a shared visio ...moreObituary: Vic Jablowski, BUSM, Protech V (03/09/1953-11/12/2025): One of those who survived BU’s closure
Durban, KZN, SA – My dad – was AMAZING.Born in 1953, he married Evelyn in 1979. My sister, Luanne Hough, was born in 1980, and I followed in 1983.A family man who made sure he supported his family in the most wonderful ways; he was also a loyal company man who worked most of his life for British United Shoe Machinery.But when ...more
Leather Industry Articles
- LEATHER’S ELEMENTARY UNIT
Geoff Attenburrow’s PhD student David M. Wright worked on the behaviour of leather under strain (Attenburrow, 1993; Wright, 1996). They were the first to describe that leather had a “co-operating unit”, a set of structures within leather that helped the leather to resist breaking and to resist deformation at low strain.T ...more‘ESG is a global requirement’
Deborah Taylor, Sustainable Leather FoundationShe spoke about the SLF’s role in supporting harmonisation and minimising duplication of effort across the leather value chain, its education and training, development of robust and credible standards, and advocacy of the leather industry.She quoted the first definition of sustainability ...moreSam Setter's 'Pills': Over and AgainThe EU announced that hides and skins could be removed from the EUDR directive's deforestation commodities. Could! Last month, like many others, I thought that the decision had been taken, but that doesn’t seem to be correct. The final decision will be taken after public feedback. Yeah, you read this right: after public feedback. As ...more
PPE Industry Articles
- Biodegradable disposable gloves ‘a growing trend’ in PPE
The poster is available to download in English in both PNG and PDF formats hereCompostable and biodegradable PPE are said to be rapidly growing trends internationally, lead by brands like Showa and HaPPE Earth.The nova-Institut für politische und ökologische Innovation GmbH in Hürth, Germany, has published an updated versio ...moreNew OHS regulations coming into force later this year mean PPE needs to be reviewed, too
In March 2025, the Physical Agents Regulations (and their guidelines) and the Noise Exposure Regulations (and their guidelines) of the OHSAct were published, with an 18-month time-period promulgation date to September 2026, allowing employers time to upgrade their Health & Safety requirements to comply with the new published regulatio ...moreThe legal ramifications: PPE and the law: Ignore at your peril?
There’s no shortage of legislation covering employee safety in South Africa, but as in so much else, the enforcement is poor.In terms of our laws, the death of an employee (or anyone else) in a work situation, caused by negligence, is treated as culpable homicide. An injury caused by negligence is also a criminal act – that, b ...more
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