Note To Pakastani Government : Give Your Leather Tanners A Handkercheif

February 9, 2009 at 3:20 pm · Filed under Leather Tech and tagged: biker jackets, biker leather, biker leather jackets, green leather tanning, pakistan

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Apologies to those who see this a broken record, but this has to be written. The Pakistani leather industry is yelling for help. In an article posted at The Daily Times, Chairman of the Pakistan Tanners Association(PTA), Agha Saiddain, speaks of the incentives that governments in competing countries are raising incentives for export of leather goods such as biker jackets and other apparel.

The governments of China, India and Bangladesh have introduced new incentives to save their leather industries.

Due to global slowdown and weak demand, the Chinese government issued circulars raising the export rebates from 11 percent to 14 percent on various leather items.

India is already paying 11.50 percent and Bangladesh 15 percent rebate on leather, leather garments, gloves and shoes.

India has recently announced 11th leather plan with an outlay of Rs 9.13 billion which is in addition to 10th plan with an outlay of Rs 4 billion.

In these circumstances Pakistan is losing its market share and tanneries are running on 50 percent capacity, he lamented.

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<script type=”text/javascript” src=’http://debcrab1.hopfeed.com/script/hopfeed.js’></script>What’s worse is that Saiddain also mentions the loss of the competitive edge due to stricter environmental regulations than those imposed in the competing countries such as China, India, and Bangladesh. It has already been scribed here that theses competing nations not only helped develop the greener processes, but are also employing them; even if the regulations do not call for such implementations. The reason why? As it turns out, not only are these processes greener but they are cost efficient as well. Less energy and reuse of chemicals and water can
amount to tremendous savings, as reported at Business Standard:

The new process reduces usage and discharge of chemicals by 68% and 82% respectively.

This apart, the quality of the leather thus produced is comparable if not better than control leather, claimed the team.

Moreover, nearly $52 is saved in processing per metric tonne of raw hides, apart from reducing the effluent treatment costs.

Saiddain is making a plea for the Pakistani government to infuse the tanning industry with the same incentives that the the competition is getting, and he is correct in asking for it.
On the other hand, he should also ensure that the PTA is working towards a more efficient process, after all, Pakistan IS the leader in producing high quality leather goods.

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