KARACHI: The leather industry of Pakistan gears up to meet the challenges of its peak season of the year- the season driven by sacrifices of millions of cows, goat and sheep as ordained in Islam.
Over 800 tanneries of all shapes and sizes across the country, a little more than 25 percent of which are members of Pakistan Tanners Association, gets busy to tan the raw skins into highly valuable tanned leather which earns Pakistan substantial foreign exchange earnings from exports.
According to official statistics, livestock contributed 11.8 percent to the GDP of Pakistan in fiscal year 2013-14. It’s contributed a lion’s share of 55.9 per cent to agriculture value added. Gross value addition of livestock has increased from Rs. 756.3 billion (2012-13) to Rs. 776.5 billion (2013-14), showing an increase of 2.7 percent over the previous year.
Tanned leather and leather manufacturing exports helped earned Pakistan $ 428.2 million and $ 519.4 million in 2013-14, official provisional statistics show. Pakistan’s exports are highly concentrated in a few items namely, cotton and cotton manufactures, leather, rice, chemicals & pharmaceutical products and sports goods and these five categories of exports together accounted for total exports during July 2013 to March 2014. Of this rice and leather & leather goods contributed 8.7 percent and 4.9 percent respectively.
Pakistan’s exports to the European Union also remain concentrated to a few items, namely non-value added textiles, home textiles, leather, footwear, plastics, carpets and ethyl alcohol. These products collectively made up 82 percent of Pakistan’s total exports to the EU in 2012. They contributed $ 4.57 billion to the total$ 5.6 billion exports to the EU in 2012. Leather was the top third export item US$ 509.21 million to the EU after home textiles, $ 1,230 million and non-value added textiles, $ 885.17 million.
The official statistics highlight the important role the leather is playing in the economics of the country. It also highlights the economic activities that Eid-ul-Azha stir in hundreds of billions in trading of sacrificial animals, the majority of which comprise cows, goats followed by sheep and camel; fodder, both green and dry; associated transportation costs, remuneration to butchers and the cost of raw hide collection all the way from initial buyers, contractors, wholesalers and tanners.
These indeed are busy days for Pakistani leather industry as raw hides start flowing into some 800 tanneries across the country. According to Pakistan Tanners Association, over 500,000 people are directly or indirectly employed by the tanning industry which contributes 5 per cent to the national GDP and 5.4 percent to the total export earnings of the country.
The Islamic festival of Eid-ul-Azha has a great impact on the economics of Pakistan and as the nation recuperates from extended five-day official holidays today, and with tomorrow being a work-day, the peak season of Pakistani leather industry has just begun to turn millions of raw hides into quality finished leather to fetch the best prices not only in the export markets but also to domestic manufacturers of leather garments, upholstery, footwear, gloves and a range of other finished leather products. As is, a number of leather producers have also start exporting the international-quality leather for upholstery in the international market.
