S&V African Leather Magazine Vol17 No9 September 2023
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IN THIS ISSUE:
02 Sam Setter’s ‘Pills’
- A new quip from Sam Setter in each issue.
04 Upfront
- Hides & Skins: There are challenges everywhere, writes Cape Product Company director Greg Feinberg.
- Exotics – ostrich leather: Strong demand continues, writes Cape Karoo International MD Francois de Wet.
- Exotics – reptilian leather: Relief as California doesn’t appeal judgement overturning its crocodilian leather trade ban, say American Tanning & Leather director Christy Plott and Le Croc MD Stefan van As.
- Sheepskins: Concentrating on the local market – for now, writes African Merino director Simo Simov.
08 An Eclectic View
- Composting standards a review by H. Procter.
14 Decoding Tanning Science
- Short-term preservation of hides using wheat bran: Review of a paper by Dr Clive Jackson-Moss.
16 Weights & Measures
- Compiled by the ISTT.
17 Sustainable Leather Foundation
- Sustainable Leather Foundation MD Deborah Taylor writes about audits and workshops in Namibia and Tanzania.
18 Fairs & Events
- IULTCS Congress: Virtual portal cancelled, writes IUL chairman Julian Osgood.
18 Trade Statistics
- SA hides, skins and leather trade statistics for July 2023, issued by SARS.
Advertisers in this Issue
Authenticae (03), Evolution Engineering (01), International School of Tanning Technology (ISTT) (03), Mimosa (05), Rolfes Leather Division (07), S&V Calendar (06), S&V Directory (09), Southern African Footwear & Leather Export Council (SAFLEC) (15), Stahl (OFC), Sustainable Leather Foundation (02), TFL (10, 11, 12, 13).
The Next Issue
- The August issue of S&V African Leather will be out on 06 October. The deadline for contributions is 29 September.
- Exotics: Ostrich leather - Strong demand continues
Mossel Bay, W. Cape, SA – Overall, we are very satisfied with the situation where ostrich leather is today. Overall demand globally is fairly strong, and at fair prices.There is quite a strong demand, especially from fashion houses in Europe and specifically the top end fashion houses. This demand didn’t go down during good co ...moreAn Eclectic View: Composting standards
BS EN 14995 and BS EN 13432 are the specifications in the UK/EU for compostability of plastics and packaging, respectively. Several test houses have published modifications to them to make them more accurate for a wider range of materials.Composting is the controlled aerobic breakdown of material. Materials capable of disintegration are p ...moreDecoding Tanning Science: Short – term preservation of hides using wheat bran
IntroductionIn order to prevent hides from rotting between the time the animal is slaughtered and the time the hide is processed in the tannery, they need to undergo some form of preservation. The most commonly used form of preservation is salting, which dehydrates the hide and thus prevents bacterial growth. It is estimated that at least ...moreHides & Skins: There are challenges everywhere
Hides: markets remain extremely challenging. Whilst better quality hides can be moved, pricing is a concern, specifically on the low end with South American material moving at prices well below cost.Merinos: The garment market is under severe pressure due to the situation in Russia/Ukraine (the traditional home for this material); whilst ...moreBrands: Sam Setter's 'Pills' - For readers who need some wry medicinal humourWhen you read the ‘big’ leather magazines and the position of the major leather industry auditing company, they all heavily focus on ‘the brands’, who by now have become the centre of their interest as if they are the most precious and important industrial entities in the world. In reality these brands are moneymak ...moreExotics: Reptilian leather Relief as California doesn’t appeal judgement overturning its crocodilian leather trade banLegal battles can be very drawn-out affairs, so the reptile exotic leather lobby globally is very relieved that a landmark victory in March this year in California, in a case between the states of Louisiana and California, “is all wrapped up and done, and there are NO APPEALS IN COURT! 🎉”, wrote Christy Plott, director of A ...moreSheepskins: Concentrating on local market – for nowBronkhorstspruit, Mpumalanga, SA – African Merino is affected by the problem in Ukraine, of course, as is every other business and person on the planet.We have not exported skins for many years and have shrunk to the size of a small business with annual production of less than 15 000 skins and staff less than 10 people.We lost our e ...moreCancellation of virtual portal in 2023 IULTCS CongressWe have received the following communication from the organizers of the forthcoming IULTCS Congress in Chengdu.The Organizing Committee of the 37th International Union of Leather Technologists and Chemists Societies (IULTCS) Congress is announcing, with sincere consideration, the cancellation of the virtual portal of the IULTCS Congress i ...moreSA hides, skins, and leather trade statistics for July 2023Pretoria, Gauteng, SA (31 August 2023) – Source: SARS.Including Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho and Namibia (BELN)Cumulative tradeTrade balance R'm (131 497 293)Ratio (exports/imports) 0.95Monthly tradeTrade balance R'm (30 425 744)Ratio (exports/imports) 0.92ExportsMonth % of total 0.20Cumulative 2022 (R'm) 2 303 0 ...moreFootwear Industry Articles
- City 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 ...moreHow FootJoy’s superbly crafted shoes influenced my life
An Informative & Nostalgic Letter written in April 2025 to two executives at Acushnet (USA) – A leading golf corporation which includes FootJoy Shoes.RE: FootJoy & II recall the very first pair of FootJoy golf shoes my late father bought for me in July 1976. This wasn’t my first interaction with the brand that I had al ...morePalm Footwear: ‘One family’Palm Footwear was founded in July 1966 by Kasie Pattundeen, with 18 staff, making slippers.60 years later, with over 800 staff, it is among the biggest employers in the SA footwear industry and among the biggest manufacturers by volume.It remains a family business, headed by Rajeev and Kiran Pattundeen, with their children, Srishti and Rt ...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 ...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 ...moreSARLEN – the journey so far
SARLEN was guided by a model policy framework for the leather value chain, adopted by all member states in 2023. It was supported by Deutsche Zusammenarbeit (German Cooperation), implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), with the SADC Secretariat as the principal sponsor.The building blocks are ass ...more
PPE Industry Articles
- Understanding local and international PPE standards: Clarity in a complex landscape
Appearances and claims to the contrary, South Africa’s PPE industry “is largely unregulated, and a high percentage of PPE on the market is not compliant with official standards”, uvex Safety SA MD Christo Nel said, “and that’s a problem at many levels, and for the entire value chain”.He said the fundame ...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 ...moreSelecting the correct protective clothing for a hazardous chemical environment
In South Africa’s diverse industrial landscape, from mining operations in Rustenburg to petrochemical plants in Secunda and manufacturing hubs in Durban, workers are regularly exposed to hazardous chemical environments that demand more than just basic safety measures.The selection of appropriate protective clothing is not only ...more
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