Leather industry of Pakistan.

1. Submitted To: Sir
Burhan Ahmed
Submitted By: Ali
Anas

3. What is leather?
Leather, in the largest scope is any hide or skin taken
from an animal that has been processed by tanning.
There are many different ways of tanning leather. The
end result of the leather being tanned is subject to the
method used.
The term “hide” is used for the skin of cattle
The term “skin” is used for the skin of smaller animals
like goats, sheep and calves.

4. Where does leather come from?
The animals from which the
hides are taken vary
depending on what leather
product is to be
manufactured. Each hide can
be split into layers to
manufacture different
products some animals that
are used are cowhide,
goatskin.

5. History
• At the time of independence there were only a few
tanneries producing sole leather and that too at a very
small scale.
• In the early days of independence some tanneries were
established in Karachi
• In 1950's some were established in Lahore and adjoining
areas.
• The 1960's saw the installation of more units in other parts of
the country like Multan, Sahiwal, Kasur, Gujranwala and
Sialkot. These units were well-equipped with the latest and
modern facilities.

6. • More advanced units were established in the
1970's and Pakistan started production of finished
leather.
• The era of 1980's saw a period of improved
quality production.
• In 1990 the leather sector jumped to become the
second largest foreign exchange earner for the
country by contributing 10.41 percent toward the total
export revenue.
• During July-November 2008-09, the leather exports
of Pakistan faced a decline of 27 percent while India,
which exported 43 percent more leather garments,
witnessed 27 percent increase in its leather exports
during the same period.

7. Present scenario
• PAKISTAN is considered to be the hub of producing high
quality Leather and Leather Products, and there are about
800 Tanneries in the country actively engaged in producing
best quality finished leather of Cow, Buffalo, Sheep & Goat
skins.
• Pakistan is rich in agricultural products and has a large
livestock population which plays an important role in the
economy of Pakistan by producing around 13.0 Million Hides
and 47.4 Million Skins per annum (2009-10)

8. • The quality of goat skins, cow, buffalo hides in Pakistan
is satisfactory. The type of sheep skins we have in
Pakistan is better in respect of grain, substance and
compactness of fibers. Leather manufacturers &
exporters are determined to increase export of quality
finished leather and leather products.
• The industry is playing their positive role in activating
WTO with quality consciousness and full sense of
responsibilities to uphold the perfect image of Leather
Industry of Pakistan. As being the most significant
contributor or the country’s GDP and foreign exchange
earnings,
•

9. • The Leather Industry of Pakistan is employing more
than 500,000 peoples directly and indirectly. (2009-
2010)
• It contributes 5% of GDP and 5.4% to the overall
export earnings of the country and is considered to
be the most significant sector.

10. Raw Materials
1.
Hide
s
• Cow: The cow raw material is considered a
superior raw material upon buffalo because
of its fine, tight and comparatively uniform
structure.
• Buffalo: It is considered as the
specialty of Pakistan in World.

11. 2. Skin
• Goats: It is good for making shoe
upper leathers, garment and goods
leather.
• Sheeps: Leather made from sheep raw
materials has a very good and softer
touch and considered best for leather
garments.

12. Major Products
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Footwear Leather
garments Leather
gloves
Handbags and
purses Key chains
Wallets Sports
goods

13. TYPES OF LEATHER
In general, leather is sold in three forms
• Full-Grain leather or Top-Grain is referring to the upper section of a hide
that contains the epidermis or skin layer.
• Corrected-Grain leather is any Top-Grain leather that has had its surfaces
sanded, buffed or snuffed in order to remove any imperfection on the
surface due to insect bites, healed scars or brands
• Split leather is leather that is created from the fibrous part of the hide
left once the Top-Grain of the raw hide has been separated from the
hide.

14. PRODUCTION PROCESS
• Vegetable-tanned
leather
• Chrome-tanned
leather
• Aldehyde-tanned
leather
• Synthetic-tanned
leather
• Alum-
tanned
• Rawhid
e

15. Vegetable tanning
• Vegetable tanning is a method of using
plant material like bark and leaves to
convert animal skins into durable
leather .
• Vegetable tanned leather is created
by tanning the animal skin, using a
natural product found in plants and
trees.
• Tannins produced by plants and trees,
give the roots and stem their natural
brown color.
• By extracting the tannin or boiling the
leather with the plant or tree material,
the leather is dyed a natural brown
color depending on the type of plants

16. CHROME TANNED/WET BLUE
• It was invented in 1858 and
introduced in 1980’s in Pakistan.
It is tanned using chromium sulfate
and other salts of chromium.
•
• It is more supple and pliable than
vegetable-tanned leather, and does
not discolor or lose shape as
drastically in water as vegetable-
tanned.
• Also known as wet-blue for its color
derived from the chromium. More
esoteric colors are possible using

17. Tanning Process
1.Warehousing and sorting
2.Soaking
3.De-Fleshing
4.Liming
5.Bating, pickling, tanning
6.Samming
7.Splitting

18. 8.Skiving
9.Sorting
10.Neutralizing, filling out,
dyeing and greasing
11.Drying
12.Staking
13.Finishing
14.Quality Control
15.Dispatch

19. Pricing strategy
• The grading system is the method manufacturers use to present
their pricing structures to retail dealers. Leather suppliers also
use a grading system to distinguish their leathers and prices to
manufacturers.
• Grades may vary according to different producers. One
producer's “A" may be another producers grade “3" or “4".
•
•
Leather craft's grading system features five grades
The lower grades represent various different leather qualities
ranging from painted hides to corrected hides to anilines.
• This year the price of a cow hide ranges from Rs 1,600 to Rs
1,900, goat Rs 240 to Rs 250 per skin and for sheep the price
stands at Rs 370 to Rs 400 per skin. (2009)

20. Problems faced by the industry
• Qualit
y
• Cost of
production
• The issue of
chrome
• Shortage of
water

21. • Energy
Issues
• Environmental
challenges •
•
•
Waste
water Solid
waste Air
emissions

22. Leather industry may receive 20 per cent less animal
hides
DAWN.COM
November 18,
2010
•
•
•KARACHI: The relatively soaring price of animals and their less
numbers could result in 20 per cent less hides to the leather
industry this year.
Due to inflation, high prices and low number of animals, people preferred collective
sacrifice of animals. According to an estimate, around 70 per cent cows and 30 per
cent other small animals have been sacrificed this year.
This scenario shows the leather industry may face 20 per cent less hides this year.
Also, soaring prices of hides may disturb the industry and leather exports. —
DawnNews

23. How many cattle died and its
recent prices
• Visiting the rain-effected areas, Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza
Gilani claimed that 64,000 cattle heads had been lost in 21 districts
of the province. (2011- dawn news)
According to Sindh Livestock Department Secretary Laeeq Memon,
only 12,066 cattle heads were lost during the monsoon rains till
September 10. Of these, 729 were cows, 1,154 buffaloes, 3,505
sheep and 6,068 goats. (2011 - dawn news)
The price of a healthy goat is no less than Rs 15,000, while a
medium weight heifer (young cow) may cost around Rs 40,000 this
year. Last year, price of a sheep/goat ranged between Rs 9,000 to
Rs 10,000 and a heifer was sold between Rs 20,000 to 30,000 per
head ( 2011 - business recorder)
•
•

25. Five Years Export of Leather & Leather Products

28. Percentage share of Leather Products in Export Performance (2009-10)

29. Where does leather Industry fall in WTO
• General : Hides and skins and leather are covered under the
Agreement on Agriculture of WTO. Moreover, the Agreement on
Agriculture also has indirect implications for the sector through meat
and dairy policies.
• Tarrifs: No import tariffs are applied to raw hides and skins in Pakistan at
present. Tariff escalation (Increase in price, specially due to inflation) . is an
issue for leather
and leather products as import tariffs vary according to the level of
processing; i.e. finished leather, leather bags, leather shoes etc. Carry high
tariffs in some countries.
• Export subsidies : Direct export subsidies/refunds are hardly used in
the sector. However, at present Pakistan is giving 25 per cent freight
subsidy on exports of leather garments for a period of one year, starting
from January 1 to December 31, 2005 .
• Environmental measures Tanning industry can be highly polluting,
The cost of meeting environmental standards is one reason for shift of
activity from developed to developing countries.

30. • Food security Provides income for processors and is a
source of employment in tanning and manufacturing.
• Export restrictions and prohibitions Export prohibitions, export
taxes and combinations are used in a number of developing
countries. Pakistan at one time was using export prohibitions
against raw hides and skins.
However, there are no more export restrictions at the present.
• Food security Provides income for processors and is a
source of employment in tanning and manufacturing.
• Rural Development :
Important.
• Safeguard measures:
Limited

31. STRENGHTS
• Eid- ul-
azha
• Availability of cheap
manpower.
• High demand in international
markets.
• Skins can be obtained in huge amount because there
is a lot of meat consumption in pakistan
• Fashion
*

32. WEAKNESS
• Rising production cost makes leather industry
uncompetitive.
• Hides and skins are lost due to skin diseases,
malnutritions, and primitive slaughtering techniques
• Environmental
Issues.
• Energy
crisis.
• Smuggling ofraw materials and live
animals.
• Meat prices and the prices of raw hides and skins
are also indicative of this unchecked draining out of

33. OPPRUTUNITIES
• Export of garments using allowable fox fur trimmings
for decoration should also be permitted for boosting
export of value added leather garments.
• Export of wetblue grain and split leather is another
demand of leather industry which is not been taken
care of.
• Latest plant and machinery is available off the shelf in
the international markets and can be purchased in
short span of time in pakistan.

34. Threat
• Competitors in the
market.
• According to sources approximately 1.5 million animals
were killed due to the devastating floods in the country.
(business recorder 2010)
• High cost of
production

35. Recommendations
1.Introducing Brand Names
1.Focusing on Footwear Sector
1.Control on Smuggling
1.Control on Diseases of Livestock
1.Reduction of Duties on Machinery

36. 6.Imports should be made duty free
6.New process and new machinery should be introduced
that could improve the quality and reduce the cost of
production
6.Training must be given to the work force.