THE HIDE
MARKET - January 30, 2012
Despite most
Asian tanners being out on holiday for Luna New Year last
week, the U.S. hide market was active and hides sold in
unexpectedly good volume, while prices continued to move
higher. It
was expected that the Chinese tanners, the largest group of
American hide buyers, would be out of the market, but it was
obvious that even some of those buyers were either bidding or
buying hides last week.
For the week, the total number of hides sold was
probably not huge, but that was not due to lack of demand, but
rather due to the limited number of hides offered by
suppliers. Heavy
Native and Heavy Texas Steer hides sold higher at $76.00 per
piece FOB plant.
Big packer Branded Steer hides sold higher also with
$70.00 to $73.00 per piece FOB plant being reported. Cow hides
continued to see good demand as well, and as with the Steer
hide selections, the sales volume was likely not so big due to
few offers in the market. A $2.00 per
piece increase in value for all Cow hides was easily obtained
during the week.
The Export
Sales Report number issued by the USDA on January 26, 2012 for
sales made during the week ending Thursday January 19, 2012
showed a total of 765,700 hides and wet blue equivalents
sold. This
number was similar to the 807,900 pieces sold for export the
prior week.
China/Hong Kong was the big buyer taking 378,300
pieces, while Korea was the 2nd largest buyer
taking 156,800 pieces for the week.
The F.I.S.
for the week ending January 28, 2012 was 608,000 head, down
from the prior week's slaughter number of 628,000. For the same
week last year, the FIS number was 654,000 animals. From all
expectations, the slaughter numbers are expected to go down
further, as packer margins continue to be negative. Last week, packers
reportedly lost $120.00 to $130.00 a head due to higher live
fed cattle prices.
With the CNY
holidays over, tanners coming back to work in Asia are going
to be hard pressed to find any hides at the old steady prices,
or in fact, any hides being offered at all this week. With the kills being
reduced and so few hides available to begin with, tanners who
have a need to buy hides are going to be disappointed this
coming week, as we expect the offerings to be limited and the
prices higher.
A
CUTE GOLF STORY
One day, shortly after
joining the PGA tour in 1965, Lee Trevino, a Mexican-American
professional golfer and married man was mowing his front lawn
in Dallas, Texas and a lady driving a big Cadillac stopped in
front of his house.
The lady lowered her window and asked if he spoke
English and how much he charged to cut the grass. His reply: "Yes, M'aam
I do, and for doing it, the lady in the house lets me sleep
with her." The lady hurriedly put the car into gear and sped
off.
