UNIONE NAZIONALE INDUSTRIA CONCIARIA - Euroleather

ITALIAN TANNING INDUSTRYtrend in 2009The Italian tanning industry comprised 1,385 companiesat the end of 2009 and employed 16,994 persons, overall.The decrease corresponded to approximately 3% for bothindicators compared to the previous year, whereas, the variationis greater if the full period of the economic crisis isconsidered (between -5% and -7%).With reference to production, the loss recorded last yearwas substantial: -11.9% in terms of the volume of sq.m.(-17.2% tons of sole leather) and -16.1% referred to the overallvalue. Reference is made to 126 million square metresof finished hides and 32 thousand tons of sole leather, correspondingto a total of 3.8 billion Euros, in absolute terms.The trend over the 12 month period reflected seasonaldownturns in turnover which were constant, on average duringthe first three quarters of the year (estimated at around20%) and reflected a marked improvement in the loss duringthe last quarter (approximately -4%).Therefore, the sector survived the economic crisis duringthe 2008-2009 two-year period with a significant negativeresult in terms of production (-28% in value, -25% in sq.m.-32% sole leather), substantially uniform between the domesticand international market (-27% referred to exports,-33% referred to apparent domestic sales ), but significantlylower with regard to employment (-7%). This different levelemphasises the significant efforts made by the tanneries tomaintain the workforce in the sector and the level of professionalismachieved.regional dataMore than 90% of Italian tanning is grouped into districtsand each district has special features in terms of productionand industrial characteristics (Fig. 1).The most important tanning centre in terms of turnoverand employment (50% of the national total) is located in Veneto,in ‘valle del Chiampo’ in the Province of Vicenza, wheremedium-small size enterprises co-exist with large industrialgroups; the main production specialisation involves large bovinehides intended to be used in padded furnishing, footwearand leather goods.Whereas, the area that has the largest number of tanningcompanies is in Tuscany in the S. Croce sull’Arno, Ponte adEgola and Fucecchio area (Provinces of Pisa and Florence).Large bovine hides and small-size hides (calves) are mainlyprocessed in this context, characterised by a high degreeof craftsmanship and flexibility, intended to be used in thefashion industry, and corresponding to an annual turnovertable 1 - Production by Italian tanning industry - volume and value (2008 - 2009)2009 % Variation 2008/2009Volume Value Volume Value(Euros/million)Tanning industry production (‘000 sq.m.) 126,215 3,631.3 -11.9% -16.0%Sole leather (tons) 32,522 198.6 -17.2% -18.2%TOTAL PRODUCTION n.c. 3,829.9 n.c. -16.1%Source: UNIC 20096