S&V African Leather Magazine Vol17 No6 June 2023
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IN THIS ISSUE:
03 Upfront
- A new quip from Sam Setter in each issue.
05 Furniture Leather
- Hannitan’s Atlantis plant to be called… Hannitan Atlantis.
- Leather furniture market “not as bad as you might think”, says Hugo Zuanni of Leather Link.
- But there’s still a casualty as Bravo Brands closes factory.
- Sheep skin processor would like to access more skins.
07 An Eclectic View
- Biogenic leather. Plastics – including ‘vegan leather’ – have handed leather a free pass to win hearts and minds in the battle to curtail old, bad, carbon, writes H. Procter.
09 Sustainability
- Adapting to a changing world: Report from Sustainable Leather Foundation MD Deborah Taylor.
10 Weights & Measures
- Compiled by the ISTT.
11 Agriculture
- Government grants for renewable energy can ease the burden of CESAR and the Department of Labour’s crackdown on South African farmers, writes Viren Sookhun, Managing Director of Oxyon People Solutions.
- No respite for farmers as debt servicing costs escalate following another 50-basis points hike, writes Paul Makube of FNB.
- Nampo is not just an event, it contributes to the success of agriculture, writes Dawie Maree of FNB.
13 Trade Statistics
- SA hides, skins and leather trade statistics for April 2023, issued by SARS.
Advertisers in this Issue
APLF (OFC), Authenticae (02), Evolution Engineering (01), International School of Tanning Technology (ISTT) (02), Mimosa (04), Rolfes Leather Division (06), S&V Calendar (14), S&V Directory (10), Southern African Footwear & Leather Export Council (SAFLEC) (08), Sustainable Leather Foundation (03).
The Next Issue
- The July issue of S&V African Leather will be out on 07 July. The deadline for contributions is 30 June.
- BIOGENIC LEATHER
Plastics – including ‘vegan leather’ – have handed leather a free pass to win hearts and minds in the battle to curtail old, bad, carbon. ...moreSustainability: Adapting to a changing world
On 15 and 16 May, Northampton University held its inaugural Sustainability Summit with the central theme of “Adapting to a changing world – addressing our shared sustainability challenges”.The 2-day event, which was held at the University’s Waterside Campus, brought together representatives from local, national and ...moreGovernment grants for renewable energy can ease the burden of CESAR and the Department of Labour’s crackdown on South African farmers
Alberton, Gauteng, SA (01 June 2023) - Until recently, the agricultural sector of South Africa had a lower prescribed minimum wage than the National Minimum Wage (NMW), which was gradually increased to align with the National Minimum Wage. Now, agricultural workers qualify for the national minimum wage rate of R25.42 per hour, which means ...moreNo respite for farmers as debt servicing costs escalate following another 50-basis points hikeJohannesburg, Gauteng, SA (26 May 2023) – The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) announced another 50-basis points interest rate hike thus bringing the repurchase rate to over a decade high of 8.25%. The prime rate thus moved higher by 0.50% effective from the 26th of May 2023.Unrepentant inflationary pressures emanating from elevat ...moreNampo is not just an event, it contributes to the success of agricultureJohannesburg, Gauteng, SA (29 May 2023) – Some people might think the agricultural industry is a struggling industry when you listen to commentary on public platforms. However, when you visit an event like Nampo, one gets another view – a much more positive view. The official numbers, as reported by Stats SA, still show that t ...moreSA hides, skins and leather trade statistics for April 2023Pretoria, Gauteng, SA (31 May 2023) – Source: SARS.Including Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho and Namibia (BELN)Cumulative tradeTrade balance R'm (73 218 433)Ratio (exports/imports) 0.95Monthly tradeTrade balance R'm 51 852 637Ratio (exports/imports) 1.15ExportsMonth % of total 0.24Cumulative 2022 (R'm) 1 296 194 167Cumulative 2023 (R'm ...moreFurniture leather: Hannitan’s Atlantis plant to be called…Hannitan AtlantisSprings, Gauteng, SA – Further to the article in the 05 June issue of the S&V Weekly Newsletter, Hannitan’s new crusting plant, which is planned to open in Atlantis, outside Cape Town, in August, will trade as Hannitan Atlantis.Hannitan makes mainly leather for furniture upholstery.It will process around 1 000 wet blu ...moreLeather furniture market: ‘Not as bad as you might think’Cape Town, W. Cape, SA – “The question is: If a consumer has R50 000 to spend right now, will he spend it on a leather suite or on an inverter? It’s something of a no-brainer,” said Leather Link’s Hugo Zuanni, in response to a query on the state of the leather furniture market.Leather Link is an agent, i ...moreFurniture leather: But there’s still a casualtyVerulam, KZN, SA – Bravo Brands is in the process of closing Grafton Everest, in Verulam, 1 of its 3 furniture manufacturing plants.Its other furniture manufacturing divisions are Alpine Furniture in Stellenbosch, W. Cape, and GommaGomma in Isithebe, KZN.The Grafton factory made fabric and leather upholstered furniture, as does Alpi ...moreFootwear Industry Articles
- Obituary: 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 ...moreThe Chinese sports brand taking on Nike and Adidas
Chinese sportswear brand Anta counts Olympic freestyle skier Eileen Gu among its brand ambassadorsChina's economy was just starting to open up in the late 1980s when a determined high school dropout made his way to Beijing with 600 pairs of shoes.Ding Shizhong had them made in a relative's factory and now he was going to sell them. The mo ...moreR-CTFL meeting: Manufacturers told ‘to come back with something to show’Last week’s R-CTFL Masterplan meeting between retail, manufacturing, labour and government, with a concentration on footwear and leather goods, showed that the gulf between retail and the rest hasn’t narrowed.A follow-up meeting is planned for 08 May.The Department of Trade, Industry & Competition (DTIC), the SA Footwear & ...more
Leather Industry Articles
- ‘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 ...moreDavid Buirski retires (but we’re sure to hear more from him)
David Buirski, the former South African who edited World Leather from 1993 to 2005, and who continued his involvement with the publication and its offshoots until recently, has finally retired because “having turned 90 last December, I guess it was the sensible thing to do. Thirty-three years could be considered a long time.&rd ...moreImproving the strength and softness of crust leather through pressure treatment
IntroductionRetanning and fatliquoring have a major impact on the characteristics of leather, whereas dyeing and the finishing concentrate on the appearance of the leather. Various retanning agents and fatliquoring agents have been developed to improve the softness and mechanical strength of leather, parameters that are important to the b ...more
PPE Industry Articles
- Occupational noise-induced hearing loss ‘is the most prevalent occupational disease in the world’
Occupational noise-induced hearing loss (ONIHL) is the most prevalent occupational disease in the world*. 16% of all disabling hearing loss in adults is due to noise exposure.It’s also expensive. According to one study, it costs US$242 million in annual compensation in the USA. In the UK, the typical cost per claim in the is £ ...moreWhat if the respirator you rely on to protect your health never sealed properly?
I had the opportunity to present at the first PPE Conference in RSA, where I shared some early work we) have been exploring towards developing respirator designs better suited to the South African population.Below is a short AI-generated summary of the core message of the presentation.Respirators are often the last line of defence against ...moreMaking fall protection practical
Working at height is, by its nature, potentially dangerous. But only potentially. Properly planned and executed, working at height is safe. However, accidents and injuries are common.Part of the problem is that many – most – businesses do fall protection plans as tick box exercises. Industry can help by planning correctly, whi ...more
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