India's leather export growth may slow in 2013

Due to the low demand in the European market, the export growth of leather and leather products in India may slow down in 2012-13.

Neeraj Kumar Gupta, executive director of the Indian Trade Promotion Organization (ITPO), said that the Indian leather industry expects that the export growth rate for the current fiscal year is expected to reach 18%, but it is expected to increase by about 10% in the next fiscal year.

Mr. Gupta said at the 17th International Leather Products Fair (ILGF) that by the end of this fiscal year, the Indian leather sector's exports are expected to reach US$4.5 billion, which is higher than the US$3.8 billion that was exported in the previous fiscal year. However, exports will be lower than the expected $4.7 billion target.

He said that the Indian leather industry is also exploring other markets such as Japan, Africa, Southeast Asia, South Korea and Latin America.

Paresh Rajda, regional president of the Leather Export Council (CLE), said that the West Asian market is currently affected by Chinese leather products, usually machine-made leather products.

Until recently, Europe was still the single largest leather export destination in India, but now other markets, such as Latin America and the United States, have also started to pick up. He added that they are still working hard to penetrate the Southeast Asian market and that Chinese products currently dominate the Southeast Asian market.

The overall leather market in India is estimated at 8 billion U.S. dollars, of which about 4.5 billion U.S. dollars are exported. Leather shoes and footwear account for about 47% of India's overall leather exports, while other leather products account for about 28%.