December 22

Leather and Hide Weekly

This is the final Leather and Hide Weekly of 2020. The next newsletter will be sent Tuesday, January 5, 2021. LHCA wishes you a happy, healthy, and safe holiday.

With the holiday season upon us, Real Leather. Stay Different. contributor and renowned stylist Mike Adler provides some leather gift ideas and fashion inspiration in his latest blog post. Plus, the U.S. Department of Agriculture highlighted key agricultural trade achievements in 2020, and the U.S. government secured funding through fiscal year 2021. More on these and other topics below.

 

cows

 

Weekly Hides and Skins Stats 

  • Net sales of cured cattle hides reported for the period ending December 10 were 193,600 pieces and net sales reductions of wet blue were 8,500 pieces. Reported shipments of cured hides were 353,000 and of wet blue were 146,200. China was the largest buyer of cured hides and was the largest destination for wet blues. See more. For historical data, click here. 
  • U.S. Cattle Slaughter was 659,000 last week, down 0.9 percent from the previous week. Total cattle slaughter in 2020 is 31,288,000, 3.3 percent below 2019 levels. See more.
  • USDA AMS Major Packer Hide Price Report provided prices for eight types of U.S. hides at eight price points with a spread of $9.50 for branded southwest cows to $39.50 for heavy native steers.  See more.

Industry Updates

  • LHCA has recently learned of efforts by external actors who are either impersonating association staff or attempting to sell association resources to members. LHCA requests that you reach out to us directly if you suspect you are the recipient of these phishing attacks.       
  • USDA hosted a webinar last week to discuss weekly export sales reporting during the end of the marketing year. The webinar explained the marketing year changeover process for hides, skins, pork and beef. A recording of this session is available here. LHCA was not involved in the planning of this meeting.   
  • The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued updated travel and isolation guidance, allowing for a quarantine period of 7-10 days, if certain conditions are met. The North American Meat Institute continues to share guidance documents and other resources for industry on its COVID-19 response webpage. The page includes the latest guidance from the CDC regarding face coverings, employee screening and positive test result protocol, among other pertinent resources. Additionally, CDC and the Department of Labor issued guidance specific to the meat and poultry packing and processing industry in order to facilitate ongoing operations and support the food supply, while also mitigating the risk of spreading COVID-19. The guidance is available here.  

Latest Updates from Real Leather. Stay Different.

leather_men

 

In his latest blog post, renowned stylist Mike Adler assembles 15 carefully curated leather looks for men. These sharp, tailored, stylish ensembles feature must-have leather jackets, shoes, belts and more. Check them out here. Still struggling to find that perfect gift for your special someone or the friend who has everything? Take our Ultimate Gift Finder quiz and spread some leather love this holiday season. Get the latest news from Real Leather. Stay Different. here. And, don't forget to:

 

leather_gift_quiz

 

Other News

  • The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) last week responded to growing allegations of ocean carriers abandoning U.S. exporters by not providing empty containers for shipments to Asia. In a letter to the World Shipping Council, the FMC called for a balance between carriers' import and export services, following the surge of containerized imports at U.S. ports. The urgency to ship empty containers back to China for reloading, due to high U.S. import demand, has led ocean carriers to either charge U.S. export shippers unreasonable rates for the empties or to abandon service to shippers altogether. Read more.  
  • The Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) recently detailed major achievements in agricultural trade over the past year. The list includes implementation of the U.S.-China Phase One Economic and Trade Agreement, the U.S.-Japan Trade Agreement and the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. FAS also underscored the launch of free trade agreement negotiations with the United Kingdom and Kenya.  
  • Congress approved a $1.4 trillion bill to fund the U.S. government through September 30, 2021, averting a government shutdown before the holidays. Congress also passed a $900 billion coronavirus aid package, which includes another round of small-business assistance through the Paycheck Protection Program, a $300-per-week unemployment benefit for 11 weeks and a second round of stimulus checks for qualifying individuals totaling $600 each, among other provisions. More here.   
leather pile

 

Monthly Data

Cattle and calves on feed for the slaughter market as of December 1, 2020, totaled 12 million head. The inventory was slightly above December 1, 2019. Read the report here.

Cattle on Feed - As of December 1, 2020

dec_2020_cattle_on_feed

 

Leather News

Each week, we will share relevant leather news below. Some of the articles may cover our products, and the industry, unfavorably, but we still believe it is important to share the different ways in which leather is presented in the media. If you find articles that you would like to see included, please send them to mschumpp@meatinstitute.org.